s 


. 


DEBATE 


IN  THE 


House  of  Representatives 


OF  THE 


Territory  of  Orleans, 

ON  A 

MEMORIAL  TO  CONGRESS, 

RESPECTING  THE  ILLEGAL  CONDUCT  OF 

General  Wilkinson. 


POINTED   BY    BRAbFORD   &  ANDERSON,   CORNER  Op  CHA&TRES  AND  TOULOUSE 

STREETS— 1807. 


x 


DEBATE, 


C. 


ORLEANS  LEGISLATURE. 

HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES. 

Monday,  March  16,  1807. 
House  in  committee  of  the  whole, 
on  a  memorial  to  congress,  relative  to 
the  conduct  of  Gen.  Wilkinson — Dr. 
Cooley  in  the  chair. 

Col.  Fulton  moved  that  the  me- 
morial be  rejected 

Mr.  Parrot  faid  that  he  could  not 
conceive  upon  what  grounds  the 
gentleman  made  fuch  a  motion.  The 
memorial  contained  folid  facls,  grie- 
vances of  which  we  complain  ;  and 
they  ought  to  be  forwarded  to  go- 
vernment. 

Coir  Fulton  replied  that  his  mo- 
tive for  wiming  to  fupprefs  it,  was, 
becaufe  he  thought  it  difgraceful  to 
the  houfe  to  read  it. 

Mr  Parrot  thought  the  fubjecl:  be- 
fore the  houfe  one  of  the  mod  im- 
portant that  ever  came  before  it  ; 
and  hoped,  for  the  fake  of  his  coun- 
try, that  fuch  a  one  would  never 
again  come  before  it.  He  obferved, 
there  are  members  of  this  houfe,  de 
termined  to  go  through  thick  and 
thin,  to  juftify  the  meafures  we  fo 
much  complain  of;  men  who  ftand 
in  awe  of  a  Punic  Tyrant,  "drefs'd 
in  a  little  brief  authority,"  who  has 
been  preying  upon  the  very  vitals  of 
our  country. 

Col.  Fulton  begged  leave  to  reply 
to  the  gentleman — when  he  fpoke  of 
puny  or  petty  tyrants,  he  fuppofed  he 
alluded  to  him — he  was  under  no 
awe  of  any  one  ;  he  faid  every  one 
who  knew  him,  knew  he  was  inde- 


pendent. If  gentlemen  wifh  to  ar- 
gue the  point  fairly,  let  them  with- 
out intimidating. 

Mr.  Donaldfon  obferved  that  the 
memorial  was  fo  fulfome  to  the  ears 
of  many  in  the  houfe,  that  he  wifhed 
to  difpenfe  with  the  reading  of  it. 

Mr.  Hughes  hopsd  the  gentleman 
from  Acadiadid  not  wifh  to  have  this 
memorial  difmifled  without  being 
read  ;  he  could  not  give  his  confent 
to  it ;  he  did  not  wifh  to  have  a  thing 
thrown  away  without  knowing  what 
it  contained.  If  it  contained  truth, 
which  he  believed  was  the  facl,  it 
merited  a  better  fate  than  the  gentle-* 
man  feemed  willing  to  aflign  it — if, 
on  the  contrary,  it  contained  falfe- 
hoods*  it  would  meet  the  indignation 
of  the  houfe.  He  claimed  as  a  right, 
the  privilege  of  exprefling  his  opini- 
on on  the  memorial,  let  its  fate  be 
what  it  would. 

The  queftion  was  taken  on  the 
reading  of  the  memorial,  and  refolvea 
in  the  affirmative.  The  clerk  then 
proceeded  tc  read  the  following 

MEMORIAL: 

To  the  Honorable  the  Senate  and  House 
of    Representative.!}    of    the    United 
States,  in  Congress  assembled. 
EXTRAORDINARY   and  alarm- 
ing- events,  oblige  the  legislative  coun- 
cil and  house  of  representatives  of  the 
territory  of  Orleans,  to  appear  in   the 
character  of  complainants,  at  the  bar 
of  your  honorable  body.      * 

Among  the  privileged  secured  to 
us  by  the  treaty  of  cession,  were  some 
which  congress  thought  of  so  much 
importance,  that  they  hastened  to  be- 
stow them  as  an  earnest  of  the  further 


t 


benefits  we  were  taught  to  expect. — • 
We  knew  how  to  appreciate  them  ; 
and  rend  with  satisfaction  in  the  first 
law  passed  for  our  government,  the 
provision,  that  "  The  inhabitants  of 
u  the  said  territory,  shall  be  entitled 
"  to  the  benefits  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
"  c or/ix s.  They  shall  be  bailable,  un- 
u  less  for  capital  offences,  where  the 
"  proof  is' evident  or  the  presumption 
u  great,  and  no  cruel  or  unusual  pun- 
"  i:,hrncnt  shall  be  inflicted." 

Whenever  we  have  been  tempted  to 
complain  that  other  privileges,  deem- 
ed by  us  essential  were  withheld,  we 
have  been  reminded  of  former  periods 
in  our  history,  when  Liberty  was  only 
a  tt  nancy  at  the  will  of  our  superiors^ 
and  told  to  be  grateful  for  the  exten- 
sion of  a  remedy  against  every  species 
of  illegal,  personal  violence  ;  we  exa- 
mined the  nature  of  this  provision,  and 
•wi:w  in  its  theory  an  admirable  contri- 
vance to  secure  the  liberty  of  the  citi- 
>:en  ;  we  enquired  into  its  operation, 
•and  found  that  its  practice  had  pro- 
duced the  correspondent  e fleet ;  and 
\ve  considered  this  assurance  of  per- 
v.onal,  as  the  first  step  to  political  inde- 
pendence. 

Secured  from  the  dread  of  legal 
punishment  by  a  determination  not  to 
merit  it,  and  safe  in  the  protecting 
power  of  the  law  against  all  attacks  on 
our  reputation  or  property,  we  assum- 
ed the  pL'in  but  lofty  port  of  Freedom, 
and  looked  forward  to  the  period  when 
60,000  citizens,  who  had  by  enjoying, 
learned  to  appreciate  their  rights, 
should  unite  in  assuming  an  equal 
rank  in  the  great  Federal  Famihi — a 
station  to  which  "  nature  and  nature's 
God,"  has  destined  them.  Under 
these  anticipations!  our  government 
experienced  another  change.  And 
here  again  we  rejoiced  to  find  the  in- 
valuable p:ivileges  of  personal  securi- 
ty, re -assured  with  other  provisions 
equally  important.  In  the  second  ar- 
ticle of  the  prdii  it  is  declared 
ill  .-.I  »  die  inhabiting,  df  Said  tcrrhcry 


"  shall  always  be  entitled  to  the  belie* 
"  fits  of  the  writ  of  habeas  cor/ius  and 
"  of  a  trial  by  jury — that  all  persons 
"shall  be  bailable,  unless  for  capital 
"  offences,  when  the  proof  is  evident 
"  or  the  presumption  great,  and  thi'.l 
"  no  man  shall  be  deprived  of  his  li- 
u  berty  or  property,  but  by  the  judg- 
"  inent  of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of  the 
"  laiid."  We  view  with  admiration, 
and  as  children  of  the  great  Am-ri'-an 
Family,  claim  a  participation  in  the- 
benefits  of  the  constitutional  provisions 
contained  in  the  7th  and  8th  articles 
of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  fear  not  the  disspprobation  of 
congress,  when  we  contend  that  within 
this  territory  "  no  person  shall  be 
"  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  other- 
"  wise  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a 
"  presentment  or  indictment  of  a 
"  grand  jury,  except  in  cases  arising 
"  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the 
"  militia,  when  in  actual  service  in 
"  time  of  war,  or  public  danger."  And 
that  in  all  priminal  prosecutions  the 
accused  ^  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a 
"  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  impar- 
"  tial  jury  of  the  state  and  district 
'*•  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been 
"  committed,  which  district  shall  have 
"  been  previously  ascertained  by  law, 
"  and  to  be  informed  of  the  nature  Sc 
"  cause  of  the  accusation — to  be  con- 
"  fronted  with  the  witnesses  against 
"  him — to  have  compulsory  process 
"  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor, 
"  and  to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel 
"  for  his  defence." 

We  feel  a  grateful  pleasure  in  re- 
ferring to  these  constitutional  bulwarks 
erected  for  our  protection — an  honest 
pride  in  the  consciousness  that  we 
have  not  rendered  ourselves  unworthy 
of  the  blessing — and  an  indignant  grief 
which  v.  e  are  sure  your  honorable  bo- 
dy will  participate,  in  the  reflection 
that  the  noblest  plan  ever  devised  for 
the  protection  of  personal  liberty—. 
the  finest  theory  ever  imagined  for  the 
restraint  of  arbitrary  power,  should. 


before  we  had  well  seen  its  operation 
be  rendered  abortive — that  the  best 
gift  ofiered  by  the  United  States 
should  be  violently  torn  from  our 
grasp,  and  that,  while  its  constitutional 
guardians  looked  tamely  on,  the  holy 
templeof  justice  should  be  sacrilegious- 
ly lilled  of  this  revered  palladium  of  our 
rights. 

The  annexed  documents  support 
the  following-  statement  of  facts,  to 
which  we  entreat  the  immediate  and 
efficient  attention  of  the  proper  bran- 
ches of  government. 

The  return  of  the  regular  forces  to 
this  city  in  last,  announ- 

ced to  us  the  settlement  of  our  diffe- 
rences with  Spain  upon  our  frontiers, 
•and  we  felt  grateful  to  those  who  had 
been    instrumental   in     tranquiiizing 
the  country.      But  our  tranquiiity  was 
of  short   duration.      Measures   were 
soon  put  into   operation   which   filled 
the  city  with  alarm,  and  every  thinking 
mind  with  the   apprehension   of  the 
most  sinister  events.  Very  active  pre- 
parations were  made  for  defence,   but 
the  utmost  mystery  observed  as  to  the- 
cause — rumors  were  put  into  circula- 
tion of  an  intent  to  proclaim  martial 
law — and  the  old  forts  which  command 
the  city  were  repaired.     At  lenghth, 
when  a  sufficient  degree  of  alarm  had 
been  created,   the   merchants  of  the 
city  were  invited  to  convene  at  the  go- 
vernment house  on  the  day 
of  December  last,  and  many  of  them 
attended.     They  were  met  by  the  Go- 
vernor of  this  Territory,  and  Brigadier 
General  Wilkinson.     The  latter  com- 
municated to  them  that  the  prepara- 
tions then  making  were  to  oppose  col. 
Burr,  who  had  formed  a  plan  to  sever 
western  from  the  Atlantic  states,  and 
to   invade   the   province   of    Mexico., 
That  in   the  prosecution  of  these  ob- 
jects, he  would  himself  be  at  Natchez, 
with  two  thousand  men,  by  the  20th  of 
December,   and  would  soon  after  be 
joined  by  a  body  of  six  thousand  men. 
That  with  this  force  he   would  march 


down  to  this  city,  take  possession  of 
it,  plunder  the  banks,  and  seize  the 
shipping  to  transport  hi*  urruy,  under 
convoy  of  a  British  fieet,  to  La  Ve/a 
Cruz. 

This  information,  he  said,  he  K.d 
received,  partly  by  a  letter  from  Mr, 
Burr  addressed  to  him,  (the  General) 
written  in  cypher,  and  dated  the 

last,  and  received  by  him,  at 
Natchitoches,  on  the  16th  of  October 
last — which  letter,  or  a  decyphered 
copy,  he  produced  ;  and  which,  among 
other  things,  acknovvlt  dgtd  the  receipt  -jf 
one  from  the  General  of  the  6th  of  the 
preceding  month. ,  £5*  usk-.'d  hit,  advice  as  to 
the  propriety  of  taking  Eaton  /  onge  on 
his  way  down.  Other  parts  of  the  plan, 
not  contained  in  the  letter,  he  stated 
had  been  communicated  by  a  messen- 
ger from  Mr.  Burr,  who  had  been  sent 
to  him  at  Ntctchitoches. 

The  Governor  supported  the  Gene- 
ral in  a  speech,  in  which  he  stated  his 
belief  in  the  existence  of  the  danger, 
and  read  a  letter,  which  he  said  was 
anonymous,  but  the  hand  writing   of 
which  he  knew  to  be  that  of  a  respec- 
table gentleman  in  Tennessee.      The 
parts  of  this  letter  which  were  read, 
advised  him  to  beware  of  traitors,  to 
beware  of  the  month  of  December — 
to  beware  of  the  Ides  of  March — jo  be- 
ivarc  cf  the  General — and  gave  hints  of 
some  design  against  the  city  ;    it  has 
since  been  discovered  that  this  letter 
was  actually  signed  A.  Jackson,  and  ad- 
vised the  Governor  to  beware  of  the 
General.  Both  the  General  and  the  Go- 
vernor united  in  recommending  an  em- 
bargo on  the   shipping,   as  a  measure 
essential  to  the    general   safety — the 
merchants  who  were  present  acquies- 
ced in  the  necessity,  and  the  embargo 
was  laid.  A  ship  of  war  was  immediate- 
ly stationed  below   the  city  to  prevent 
the  departure  of  any  vessel  without  (he 
General's  passport,    and  sorne  which 
had  sailed  without  this  Document,  were 
brought  back  and  detained  until  it  was 
procured,    although     the     necessary 


6     3 


-clearances  from  the  custom  house  had 
been  given  ;  and  we  believe  thataltho' 
the  collector  has  not  since  the 

refused  the  papers  requi- 
red by  law,  no  vessel  is  suffered  to  pass 
tiie  i  01 1  at  JPiaquemine,  without  the 
General's  permission. 

Upon  the  illegality  of  this  embargo, 
we  need  not  offer  a  single  argument. 
The  legislative  power  of  congres  alone 
could  legally  enforce  a  measure  of  this 
nature.  Upon  its  expediency,  many 
considerations  occur.  Gen  Wilkinson 
•Was  the  only  witness  of  mr.  Burr's 
treasonable  designs  ;  he  stated  his 
plan  to  embrace  the  attack  of  this 
place,  the  plunder  of  its  wealth  and 
Seizure  of  its  shipping  ;  and  in  order 
to  counteract  these  projects,  it  was 
determined  to  keep  all  the  shipping  in 
the  harbor,  to  deprive  them,  by  enlist- 
ing their  seamen,  of  all  hopes  of  es* 
cape,  to  detain  the  treasures  of  the 
banks,  and  by  withdrawing  all  the  out- 
posts, and  collecting  the  military 
force  at  New-Orleans,  to  leave  all  the 
territory  open  to  the  invasion  of  the 
enemy. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  be  judges  of 
military  operations,  but  on  a  point  so 
essential  to  our  safety  as  the  defence 
of  our  territory,  and  so  important  to 
the  union  as  the  maintenance  of  its 
tranquility,  we  can  but  advert  to  the 
impropriety  of  keeping  the  regular 
forces  isuiated  in  this  city,  and  with- 
drawing the  garrisons  from  Fort  A- 
dams  and  Natchitoches,  when  the  ob- 
vious policy,  if  invasion  were  appre- 
hended, would  have  been  to  have  met 
it  in  the  defiles  of  the  upper  country, 
aided  by  a  numerous  militia,  instead 
of  waiting  an  attack  in  a  town  incapa- 
ble of  defence — or  if  the  attack  of  the 
Spanish  dominions  were  meditated, 
to  have  occupied  the  garrisons  situa- 
ted on  their  frontier. 

The  embargo  was  a  serious  evil  to 
our  country — its  immediate  operation 
is  already  severely  felt  in  the  injury  of 
private  credit.  The  extent  of  its  con- 


sequences e'anntt  be  easily  calculated, 
In  a  government  subject  to  events  like 
this,  commercial  operations  must  be 
always  uncertain,  confidence  must  be 
destroyed,  and  the  price  of  insurance, 
and  uncertainty  of  returns,  will  always 
damp  the  spirit  of  enterprise,  enhance 
the  price  of  imports,  and  lessen  that  of 
staple  commodities.  1  hese  evils  arQ 
already  felt.  The  capitals  about  to  be 
invested  in  our  lands,  in  our  public  in- 
stitutions, and  in  loans  to  our  inhabit- 
ants, are  suddenly  withdrawn,  and  the 
spirit  of  emigration  to  our  territory  is 
destroyed;  and  a  fall  of  at  least  twen- 
ty -Jive  fier  cent,  in  the  price  of  real  es* 
tates,  attests  the  misfortune  of  our 
country.  Measures  more  deeply  to  be 
deprecated,  because  they  struck  at  the 
root  of  all  a  freeman  ought  to  value  in 
life — Measures  fortunately  unknown 
in  the  history  of  the  American  people, 
and  which,  we  devoutly  pray,  may  be 
only  cited  hereafter  to  shew  the  exem- 
plary punishment  that  followed  their 
adoption. 

On  Sunday  the  13th  of  December, 
Doctor  Erick  Bollman,  a  resident  and 
house-holder  of  this  city,  was  arrested 
by  two  military  officers,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Brigadier  General  Wilkinson 
—his  papers  were  seized— he  was  de- 
nied the  privilege  of  consulting  coun- 
sel— and  was  immediately  hurried  out 
of  the  territory.  Two  other  persons, 
(citizens  of  the  United  States,)  were 
arrested  by  a  similar  order  and  confi- 
ned on  board  a  Bomb-Ketch,  opposite 
the  city.  For  some  days  neither  the 
arrest  of  these  last  persons,  nor  the 
place  of  their  imprisonment,  were 
sufficiently  known  to  justify  any  judi- 
cial steps  for  their  release.  At  length 
one  of  them,  (Mr.  Ogden)  remarka 
ble  for  his  height,  was  discovered 
from  the  shore — a  proper  affidavit  was 
made,  and  a  -habeas  cor/ius  obtained,  in 
obedience  to  which,  and  contrary  to 
the  express  order  of  General  Wilkin- 
son, the  officer  of  the  Navy  in  whose 
custody  he  was,  brought  .him  before 


{he  judge,  and  he  TOIS  released.  The 
other,  Mr,  bvvartwout,  was  immediate- 
ly removed  to  more  close  confinement, 
and  measures  were  taken,  by  frequent- 
ly changing  the  -officer  of  his  guard,  to 
avoid  any  proper  return  to  the  writ  is- 
sued for  his  release. 

An   affidavit   of  the  arrest  of  Eoll- 
naan  was  presented  to  one  of  the  judges 
of  the  superior  court,  on  the  afternoon 
of  the    14th   of  December,  together 
•with  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus ,  for  his 
allowance  ;    and  it  was  urged  by  the 
gentleman  who  presented  it,  that  the 
case  was  an  urgent  one— that  the  pri- 
soner would  probably  be  removed  out 
of  the  reach  of  process  by  the  next 
day.      The  allowance  of  the  writ  was 
at  that  time  refused  by  the  honorable 
Wm.    Sprigg,    senior    judge   of  the 
.superior  court,   in  order,  as  he  alleti- 
ged,  that  he   might  consult  his  col- 
league, and  he  not  being  at  home,  the 
motion  for  the  habeas  corpus  was  di- 
rected to  be  made  in  open  court.      On 
following  day,  this  motion  appears  to 
have  be«n  made  by    Mr.   Alexander, 
supported    by    Mr.  Livingston,   both 
counsellors  of  the  superior  court — the 
\vrit  was  allowed.      On  Thursday  the 
18th  of  December,  Gen.  \V  ilkinson,  to 
whom  the  writ  was  directed,  made  his 
return,  in  which  he  set  forth  : — 

[Here  follows  the  return  TJI  the  case 
efBotlman.'] 

After  thus  avowing  his  breach  of  the 
constitution  and  laws  of  his  country, 
and  declaring  to  the  judges,  sitting  in 
their  official  capacity,   that   he   would 
persevere  in  the  same  lawless  course, 
fie  proceeded  to   denounce    the   two 
counsellors  who  had  dared  to  question 
his  proceedings — He  demanded  their 
immediate  arrest — -but  though  repeat- 
edly urged,  by  the  one  who  was  pre- 
sent, to  substantiate  his  charge,  and 
though  every  effort  since  that  period 
has  been  made  by  the  gentleman  accu- 
sed to  provoke  enquiry  into   his  con- 
duct, we  do  not  find  that  any   proof 
prated  to  sriuu- 


nate  him- — and  we  are  therefore  con- 
strained to  believe  that  this  denuncia- 
tion was  intended  to  overawe  those 
who  might  be  inclined  to  extend  their 
professional  aid  to  the  Geneal's  vic- 
tims. 

This  deduction  derives  additional 
force     from   the   proceedings  after- 
wards purfued  with    reipedt  to  Mr. 
Alexander.     On  the  following  day 
he  was,  by  virtue  of  a  military  order 
figned  by  general  Wilkinfon,  arreft- 
ed  in  his  houie,  and  conveyed   thro* 
the  ftreets  at  noon-day  under  a  flrong 
efcoi  t  ot  Dragoons — he  was  paraded 
through  the  principal  ftreets  in  the 
city,  expofed    to  the  pitying  gaze  of 
hundreds  of    the  aftoniflied  inhabi- 
tants, and  committed  to  clofe  con- 
finement   at  head- quarters.      From 
thence,  with  Mr.  Ogden,  who  was  a 
fecondtirne  arrefted,  he  was  convey- 
ed  to    fome   place   then   unknown. 
There   is    however,   unqueftionable 
proof  that  on  the  22d  of  January  they 
wtte  in  confinement  at  Plaqurmine. 
The  Habeas  Corpus  in  the  cafe  of 
Bollman  is  the  on'y  one  which  was 
iflued  from  the  fuperior  court  in  thefe 
cafes  of  military  arreft — the  effect  of 
that  was  rendered  abortive  by  the  al«- 
ledged  removal  of  the  priforier. 

The  other  cafes  were  profecuted 
in  the  county  court,  where  James 
Workman  tfquire  prefided— The 
hiftory  of  thofe  cafes  and  the  reafons 
why  they  were  rendered  ineffectual 
are  contained  in  a  report  made  by 
that  officer t:>  this  houft — That  docu- 
ment demands  the  ferious  attention 
of  the  national  legiflature  ;  and  the 
tacit  refufal  of  the  governor  of  this 
territory,  to  give  effective  energy  to 
tht  civil  authority,  will  no  doubt  be 
examined  by  the  executive  of  the  U- 
nion 

The   picture   however  of  our  fuf- 
f  Brings,  dtb*itu«4Uuiib  and  i&juiits,  is 


]• 


fcot  yet  complete.  We  have  feen  the 
citizen  impriforied,  and  his  advocates 
dj.^irvrcd  fr-i'i  the  bar, denounced,  im- 
piif'vneil  <:nd  banifhed — the  violation 
otfhef;c,ed  featofjuftice  irf;lfwas 
fli-I  wanting  to  give  a  finifh  and  co- 
Icrir.s/,  a  clow  of  intenfe  guilt 
V-  the  croup.  This  it  received,  for 
Mr  Workman  a  few  days  after  his 
cormnurnc'»Mon  was  made  to  this 
Ktn:fc,  was  himfelf  arrefted,  dragged 
to  ibe  vuard  hc;ufe  and  imprtlbned 
i*iih  Mr.  Kcrr  (another  gentleman 
of  !rv.  bar,  \\  ho  had  taken  out  the  ha- 
bfr >  corpus  tor  Ogden,)  until  they 
Tv-ere  rdeafed  by  the  prompt  interoo- 
fttion  cf  the  d'itrjc"r  jrdgeof  the  Uni- 
ted S^tes.  We  do  not  mean  to  be 
jprvdrrft'ood  as  vouching  for  the  inno- 
cence cr  guilt  of  the  f..veral  perfons 
x* 'horn  th-r  commander  in  chief  of  the 
Ann  r\  ,  -rrny  has  arrefted.  It  is 
how.v  'Tiie; what  unfortunate  that 
tfhe  ;..-  none  of  the  victims  he 

has  »  ;  '.t  the  bar  or  the  bench 

Was  ever  :!'<covevcd  until  they  had 
diftinguifhed  *herr»fv:lves  by  doing 
their  t'uiy  in  opp  fi;i  m  to  his  tyrani- 
ca?  defigns. 

In  order  to  prevent  all  efcape  from 
fcenes  fofull  of  hcrror,  fci  degrading 
to  an  American,  fo  ruinous  in  their 
corifcquences,  and  fo  »(ifgraceful  to 
thoft  whofe  diry  it  was  toproiecl:  us 
againft  them,  guards  were  placed  a- 
bove,  and  forts  and  garrifons  below 
thetov  n — all  travellers  were  flopped, 
fearched,  impriforcd  unlefs  provided 
^ith  pafTports,  and  the  citrzens  of  t  his 
territory  in  pading  quietly  through 
their  neighborhood  were  not  only 
flopped,  but  fired  upon,  by  order  of 
General  Wilkinfon.  Innocent  tra- 
Teliers  from  a  remote  part  of  the 
cc/untry  have  been  forced  to  return 
one  hundred  miles  to  procure  this  li- 
cenfe  to  travel  in  their  own  country. 

Tbjs  order  has  been  enforced  even 


againft  a  member  of  this  houfc* 
whofe  perfon  w:is  imprifoned  until 
he  had  fufFered  an  illegal  examination 
of  his  private  papers. 

Though  nothing  can  juftify,  yet 
circu:n(tances  of  extreme  danger  in 
the  moment  of  invafion  during  the 
fufpenfion  of  the  civil  authority, 
might  excufe  fome  of  thefe  violent 
meafures — But  here  no  foreign  ene- 
my or  opendomeitic  foe  was  then,  or 
has  yet  been  proved  to  have  been  with* 
in  any  perilous  diilance  of  this  city, 
or  that  treafon  lurked  within  our 
walls — Nay,  there  yet  exifts,  within 
our  knowledge,  no  proofs  of  any 
treafonable  defigns  fufficiently  organ- 
ized and  matured  to  give  us  any  rea- 
fonable  caufe  t  fear  for  our  fafety. 
The  courts  were  open  to  punifh,  ju- 
ries to  try,  and  officers  ready  to  en- 
force the  civil  authority  in  all  cafes 
of  convicltion  If  reafonable  doubts 
could  be  entertained  of  any  want  of 
energy  in  the  civil  authority,  the  mi- 
luas  v  was  at  hand  to  aid  its  operations 
— but  this  ancillary  procefs  did  not 
fuit  the  views  of  the  commander—— 
his  ardent  zeal  could  not  brook  "  the 
laws  delay,"  his  promptitude  to  fup- 
port  "  the  holy  attiibutes  of  thecon- 
ftitution"  would  admit  of  no  flay  to 
his  uplifted  arm  ;  and  though  by  an 
union  of  mockery  with  violence,  in 
many  of  the  cafei?  he  began  by  an  ap- 
plication to  the  courts  and  to  juries, 
yet  his  impatience  always  fnatched 
his  victims  before  they  had  time  to 
deliberte  on  the  accufations  he  pre- 
tended to  make. 

Again  we  repeat  to  your  honorable 
body,  that  we  do  not  forget  our  de- 
partment fo  far  as  to  pronounce  on 
the  alledged  guilt  or  presumable  inno- 
cence of  the  victims  of  his  viloence. 
But  we  muft  be  permitted  to  remark 
that  ineifher  cafe  the  proceed  ings  are 
illegal,  opprefiive,  and  inhuman, 


t 


Thus  we  have  briefly  ftated,  with 
as  few  reflections  as  the  nature  of  the 
cafe  would  admit,  the  a  els  of  high 
handed  military  power  to  which  we 
have  been  and  are  yet  expofed — acts 
too  notorious  to  be  denied,  too  illegal 
to  be  juitified,  too  wanton  to  be  ex- 
cufed — We  have  alluded  to,  but  can- 
not fully  defcribe  the  humiliating  fit- 
ua'ion  te  which  they  have  reduced  us. 
Never  would  we  have  fubmittcd  to 
it,  it  the  aid  had  been  afforded  by 
thofe  branches  of  government  whofe 
duty  it  was  to  have  protected  our 
rk'lus,  to  have  refitted  opprefiion,  and 
to  have  rallied  us  around  them  on  the 
fiift  afliimprion  ->f  iUegal  power — at 
the  head  of  thefe  branches  are  men 
not  appointed  by  us — over  whom  we 
have  no  controul,  and  who  are  ame- 
nable ©nly  to  congrefs  fur  their  con- 
duel  .  We  pray  that  that  conduct  may 
fee  ftriclly  examined  into,  and  that 
nothing  connected  with  this  extraor- 
dinary ftateof  thing*  may  be  conceal- 
ed— We  annex  to  this  memorial  a 
nieflage  from  our  governor,  by  which 
we  are  invited  to  a  temporary  fufpen- 
fion  of  the  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus — 
a  compliance  wiih  which  we  con- 
cieve  would  involve  the  violation  of 
of  our  oaths,  the  ordinance  and  con- 
ftitution  of  our  country,  and  w.'thout 
the  .  femblance  of  neceflity  lend  our 
authority  to  cover  the  unconftitution- 
al  proceedings  of  which  we  com- 
plain. 

Our  great  diftance  from  the  feat  of 
government,  renders  opprefiion  more 
bold  by  the  hope  of  impunity — our 
fcattered  population  takes  away  all 
fear  of  refiftence — the  eafe  v\irh 
which  men  in  office  can  procure  t(  fti- 
mony,  or  influence  opinion  in  their 
favor,  makes  conviction  more  'lifrlcult 
—and  the  neceflity  of  keeping  up  a 
large  military  force,  will  iongexp<vfe 
us  to  a  repetition  of  the  evil—But 


all  thefe  confiderations  will,  we  are 
convinced,  have  the  effect  of  render- 
ing the  proper  branches  of  cur  gov- 
ernment more  watchful  over  the  con- 
duct of  their  officers,  and  we  rely 
wirh  confidence  on  the  energy  of  the 
Executive  to  remove,  on  the  vigilance 
of  the  Reprefentativcs  to  accufe,  and 
thejufticc  of  the  Senate  topuniih  the 
officers  who  (hall  be  found  to  have 
difrtgarcied  their  duty. 

The  memorial  being  read, 
Mr.  Donaldson  moved  that  the  me- 
morial be  recommitted  to  a  commit- 
tee :  he  said  that,  the  memorial  before 
the  house,  from  the  language  and  stiie 
of  it,  went  to  defeat  itself  :  It  was  not 
confined  to  facts,  and  was  vindictive. 

Mr.  Parrot  sincerely  hoped  the 
gentleman's  motion  would  not  prevail 
— he  observed  that  the  gentleman  him- 
self had  been  one  appointed  on  a  com- 
mittee to  draw  up  a  memorial — that 
after  diily  dallying  forty  clays,  and  ma- 
king a  number  of  apologies  to  the 
house,  &c.  the  chairman  expressed  his 
opinion  that  they  never  would  agree, 
and  another  committee  was  nominat- 
ed, who  have  brought  forward  this 
memorial ;  and  the  gentleman  has  the 
good  conscience  to 'rise  and  move  that 
it  be  recommitted,  for  what  purpose 
he  best  knows — But  I  fear,  should  it 
be,  we  shall  never  have  it  again  before 
us,  by  which  we  might  be  enabled  to 
discharge  that  duty  we  owe  our  con- 
stituents and  country.  The  gentle- 
man says  he  is  one  of  those  who  wish 
that  this  memorial  should  be  forward- 
ed to  government ;  but  I  cannot  think 
him  serious,  or  why  move  for  its  re- 
commitment ?  Can  it  not  as  well  un- 
dergo any  amendments  before  the 
house  ?  It  was  the  unanimous  voice 
of  this  house  about  ten  weeks  ago, 
that  a  memorial  should  be  forwarded 
to  government,  containing  facts  of 
which  we  complained.  Any  member 
at  that  time  who  would  have  come 
forward  to  oppose  it,  would  have  met 


10     J 


the  honest  indignation  ^of  the  house- 
but  time  has  elapsed,  and  some  of  the 
members  have  had  an  opportunity  to 
cool,  and  the  cause  of  their  grievances 
•with  them.  It  has  been  asserted  that 
the  measures  adopted  have  been  ibr 
cur  good-— but  I  never  can  believe  that 
means  so  arbitrary  and  illegal — of  so 
prominent  and  commanding  a  nature, 
could  have  been  for  our  good  ;  and  I 
v/ill  go  further,  and  say  I  do  not  be- 
lieve they  proceed  from  upright  mo- 
tives. 

Mr.  Gurley  observed  that  he  would 
support  the  motion  of  mr.  Donaldson 
fora  recommitment  of  the  memorial, 
upon  the  ground  of  having  the  unani- 
mous consent  of  the  committee — that 
things  \vere  inserted  as  facts,  upon 
which  the  house  were  to  act,  that  con- 
tained no  truth— -that  in  the  present 
state  of  the  memorial,  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  act  upon  it.  It  would  require 
to  be  so  altered,  amended  and  new- 
moddled,  in  order  to  make  it  meet  the 
ideas  of  the  house,  that  it  could  not  now 
be  done — that  it  had  been  suggested 
that  a  committee  of  the  whole  should 
make  such  amendments  as  were  tho't 
proper.  He  observed  that  there  was 
such  a  connection  of  sentences,  and  the 
thing  so  blended  and  interwoven,  that 
it  would  be  an  endless  task,  and  would 
waste  time  without  effect.  He  did  not 
wish  it  to  be  thought  that  he  was  ini- 
mical to  the  measure  of  forwarding  a 
memorial  to  government  ;  but  he 
v-ished  the  propriety  to  he  fairly  ar- 
gued first,  as  it  was  of  serious  conse- 
quence, particularly  as  it  would  reflect 
on  the  dignity  of  the  legislature. 

Dr.  Wat  kins  rose  in  order  to  ex<- 
press  his  astonishment  at  the  extraor- 
dinary manner  in  which  the  house  had 
been  treated  on  this  subject.  He  ob- 
served that  it  had  been  unanimously 
voted  that  a  m'emorial  should  be  foi- 
v.arded  to  government.  He  wished 
to  know  whether  that  vote  should  be 
complied  ^with  ?  He  would  oppose 
the  motion  for  a  re-commitment,  upon 


two  or  three  grounds — the  necessity 
there  was  for  communicating  with  the 
Executive  on  this  occasion  ;  that  from 
the  conductor  one  ot  the  committees 
which  had  been  first  appointed  to  draw 
up  tiiis  memorial,  (which  he  could  not 
refrain  from  saying  did  not  act  the 
part  due  to  its  country,)  he  should 
never  consent  to  the  re-commitment. 
Were  gentlemen  afraid  oi  the  memo- 
rial i  Should  it  be  infamous,  where 
will  it  lodge  ?  He  observed  that  the 
memorial  was  of  more  consequence, 
than  all  the  laws  which  have  occupied 
the  attention  of  the  house  the  whole 
session — it  contained  matter  of  more 
connection  with  our  fundamental  laws, 
and  more  consonent  to  our  doctrines 
of  government,  than  any  or  all  the 
laws  passed  in  this  house. 

Mr.  Hughets.r?-'\.'\i$  motion  propos- 
ed by   the   gentleman   from     Acudia, 
is  certainly   one  that   shul  huve    my 
most  hearty  disapprobation.     I  am  as- 
tonished bir,  that  the  gentleman    from 
Acadia,  or  indeed   any  otncr  in  this 
house,  could  hcive  the  boldness  to  rise 
and  support  a  motion  for  the   recom- 
mitment of  the  memorial   now   under 
the  consideration  of  this  house  j  when 
I  reflect  sir,  that  the   same   memorial 
has    been    handed   about    from  *  one 
committee  to   another,  one  of  which 
committees    the    gentleman    himself 
was  a  member  for  at  least  forty  days ; 
that  committee   was  discharged,   and 
another  appointed  in  its  stead,  and  now 
upwards  of  twenty  days  have   elapsed, 
the  memorial   is  brought  forward   for 
consideration,  and  the  gentleman  has 
the   good   conscience  to  propose  the 
postponement  of  its  consideration.     I 
am  in  hopes  the  proposition  will  have 
KO  effect,  and  meet  the  opposition   it 
justly  mciits.     And  now  I  am  up,  if  I 
am  in  order,  I  will  make  some  general 
remarks  on  the   extraordinary   occur- 
rcrrr.f  v  hich  produced  the  memorial. 
T  1-ey  will  be  such  I  believe  as  no  per- 
K.f;i:  .11  uiib  house  will  find  easy  to  re- 
fute. 


Instead  of  hearing  the  memorial 
submitted  by  your  committee,  termed 
a  libel,  I  expected  to  have  heard  it  ap- 
plauded for  the  temperance  and  mild- 
ness of  its  language  ;  instead  of  hear- 
ing it  asserted  that  it  contained  char- 
ges unfounded  and  malicious,  I  was 
myself  prepared  to  accuse  the  com- 
mittee of  having  overlooked  many  im- 
portant causes  of  complaint,  and  I  was 
even  tempted  to  offer  proofs  of  some, 
to  be  added  by  way  of  amendment  to 
the  report.  I  confess,  mr.  Chairman, 
that  I  look  around  rne  with  astonish- 
ment— that  I  doubt  the  evidence  of  my 
senses,  when  I  hear  conduct,  such  as 
that  of  which  we  complain,  palliated 
or  excused  ;  and  I  would  rather  bear 
the  idea  that  a  temporary  insanity  had 
assailed  me,  than  be  forced  to  the  mor- 
tifying certainty,  that  these  palliations, 
these  excuses,  the  mean,  humbling, 
half  justifications,  of  arbitrary  power, 
have  been  asserted  by  Americans,  in  a 
free  deliberative  assembly  ; — Free  As- 
Kr.mbly !  pardon  me,  mr.  Chairman, 
the  unguarded  expression  ;  it  is  the 
bitterest  irony  in  our  situation.  Are 
you  safe,  sir,  in  your  chair  ?  Are  ei- 
ther ot  us  in  our  seats  free  from  the 
fear  of  actual  violence  ?  The  sword 
of  power  is  waved  over  our  heads—- 
the bayonets  of  military  despotism  are 
at  your  door,  and  the  adoption  of  that 
memorial  may  be  the  signal  for  your 
immediate  seizure,  banishment  or 
death  ?  And  pray  sir,  to  what  quar- 
ter will  you  look  for  protection  ?  To 
the  executive  of  the  territory  ?  tt  is 
worse  than  palsied— it  is  acutually  en- 
listed in  the  service  of  your  oppressor  ! 
To  your  constituents  ?  Your  tame 
submission  to  these  outrages— your 
wretched  time-serving  delays— the 
want  of  character  and  energy  we  have 
for  two  long  months  displayed, — has 
destroyed  all  confidence  in  us,  or  sym- 
pathy for  our  sufferings.  But  there  is 
no  danger  ;  the  storm  has  blown  over  ; 
the  clouds  are  dispersed,  and  we  are 


now  to  enjoy  the  full  sunshine  of  li- 
berty and  peace. 

But  what  security  have  we  that  the 
momentary  calm  will  last  ?  It  is  true 
that  for  two  or  three  weeks  past,  we 
have  not  seen  any  of  our  constituents 
dragged  from  their  families  or  friends  j 
that  the  guard  which  insulted  even 
members  of  this  house,  and  violated 
its  privileges,  is  withdrawn  ;  that  a 
citizen  may  now  ride  a  few  miles  out 
of  the  city  without  having  his  pockets 
searched,  and  the  secrets  of  his  friends 
and  family  exposed  to  the  insulting 
scrutiny  of  a  subaltern  ;  that  defence- 
less women  and  children  are  no  longer 
made  prisoners  of  state  ;  and  that  the 
business  of  the  court  is  no  longer  con- 
fined to  the  nugatory  wr\ts  Q£  habeas 
corpus,  or  the  reception  of  insulting 
returns. 

But  sir,  these  scenes  attended  with  a 
thousand  aggravating  circumstances, 
which  have  but  just  passed  before  our 
eyes  ; — and  what  security  have  you, 
I  repeat,  that  they  will  not  be  renew- 
ed ?  The  same  force  that  was  em- 
ployed ;  the  same"  tyranny  that  direct- 
ed it,  are  yet  in  your  city.  An  eye  is 
kept  over  all  your  proceedings  :  every 
word  uttered  here  is,  I  most  religious- 
ly believe,  carried  to  your  oppressor ; 
and  upon  his  will  alone  depends  our 
future  fate.  We  know  this  ;  we  feel 
it,  and  yet  we  do  not  blush  to  say  we 
are  Free  !  No  sir,  we  are  not  free  ; 
and  our  constituents  will,  I  hope,  as- 
cribe to  fear,  and  nothing  but  fear,  the 
event  which  I  anticipate  with  mortifi- 
cation aiid  horror,  when  a  majority  of 
the  members  of  this  house  shall  reject 
that  memorial  ;  and  when  that  same 
majority  shall  adopt  in  its  stead,  an 
address,  excusing^  palliating  or  even 
justifying  the  conduct  that  has  wan- 
tonly destroyed  your  constitution,  and 
impudently  violated  your  laws  ;  when 
we  shall  crawl  in  the  dust  beneath  the 
feet  of  our  oppressor,  and  shew  the 
weakness,  but  surpass  the  forbearance 


[      12      j 


of  the  poor  reptile  that  turns  when 
trodden  on. 

Sir,  will  it^  can.  it  be  said,  that  real  or 
apparent  danger  rendered  this  conduct 
necessary  ?  If  I  am  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  I  say  the  assertion  i:>  a 
li  bcl  on  pur  constituents  ;  I  will  ne- 
ver sanction  it  by  my  voice.  What 
sir  !  was  the  political  body  so  contam- 
inated here,  that  justice  could  not  be 
administered  ?  Where  were  the  trai- 
tors ?  Have  they  fled  from  justice  ? 
Have  they  made  their  escape  from 
this  city  ?  Why  are  they  not  now 
dragged  to  justice  ?  Why  are  their 
names  concealed  from  an  indignant 
public  ?  Because  neither  treason  nor 
traitors  existed  in  the  country  thus  ca- 
lumniated !  because  the  idea  origina- 
ted only  in  the  mind  of  a  man,  who 
wanted  by  the  excess  of  a  new  born 
zeal,  to  cover  the  suspicions  of  guilt, 
and  who  hoped  to  stop  the  investiga- 
tion of  his  own  conduct,  by  magnify  - 
the  danger  from  which  he  wished 

?have  us  believe  his  services  had  de- 
livered us !! 

The  letters,  the  papers,  and  the 
persons,  nay  even  the  private  conver- 
sations of  the  inhabitants  of  this  terri- 
tory, have  for  three  months  been  un- 
der the  absolute  controul  of  the  public 
officers.  If  treason  had  existed  in  this 
territory,  it  would  in  vain  have  endea- 
vored to  escape  detection — If  the  peo- 
ple were  so  disaffected,  that  they  were 
ready  to  snatch  the  culprit  from  the 
hands  of  justice — if  the  judges  could 
not  be  trusted  to  commit,  nor  juries  to 
pronounce  on  the  guilt  of  the  delin- 
quents, surely  with  such  means,  and 
so  inquisitorially  exercised,  some  evi- 
dence of  the  fact  would  have  been  pro- 
duced ;  some  document,  some  decla- 
ration ;  some  bottle  conversation  ; 
— some  confidential  communication 
would  have  been  drawn  forth  from 
the  secrecy  in  which  friendship  and 
honor  had  buried  them,  to  bear  testi- 
mony of  iruilt,  or  at  least  to  justify 


I  therefore  repeat,  and  so  long  as 
my  feeble  voice  can  be  heard,  I  will 
continue  to  proclaim,  that  our  consti- 
tuents have  been  vilely  calumniated, 
as  well  as  cruelly  oppressed  ;  that  in- 
sult has  been  added  to  injury  ;  and  that 
their  imaginary  disaffection  has  beeri 
slanderously  alledged  as  an  excuse 
for  their  real  oppression.  Away  nen 
sir,  with  the  degrading  excuse  deriv- 
ed from  domestic  treason  or  disaffec- 
tion. It  is  one  that  will  surely  find  no 
favor  with  the  executive  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  who  has  borne  honorable 
testimony  to  the  readiness  with  which 
the  force  of  the  territory  was,  in  a  mo- 
ment of  danger,  offered  to  support  the 
Union  ;  nor  will  it  be  believed  here, 
when  we  have  seen  our  most  respect- 
able citizens  performing  the  drudge- 
ry of  garrison  duty,  and  condescend- 
ing, even  on  the  mere  allegation  of  the 
general,  to  undertake  the  task  of  exe- 
cuting orders  odious  in  themselves, 
and  which  I  am  sure  must  have  been 
doubly  disagreeable  to  them,  both  as 
free  citizens,  and  men  of  respectability 
in  society. 

If  there  was  no  danger  from  domes- 
tic insurrection,  did  any  pressing  pe- 
ril from  without,  threaten  us  with  such 
immediate  destruction,  that  no  time 
was  given  to  deliberate,  or  consult  the 
constitutional  organs  of  accusation  ? 
From  whence  did  it  arise  ?  We  have 
been  told  but  of  one  quarter  from 
whence  any  was  expected  I  yet  it  is 
extremely  difficult  to  reconcile  the  ex- 
istence of  any  such  .clanger,  with  the 
measures  pursued  to  avoid  it.  If  the 
commander  in  chief  of  the  American 
forces  was  really  in  earnest,  when  he 
told  us  Burr  was  expected  at  Natchez 
on  the  20th  December,  with  2000 
rnen,  would  he  have  dismantled  Fort 
Adams  ?  would  he  have  endeavored  to 
weaken  the  Mississippi  Territory,  by 
demanding  500  men  from  thence,  to 
be  bron  r,'ht  to  this  place  ?  would  he 
have  thrown  his  whole  force  into  a  de- 
fenceless town,  and  left  the  whole  up- 


J 


per  country  open  to  invasion  ?  and 
would  he,  I  ask  it  seriously,  &  pray  his 
advocates  in  this  house  to  give  a  satis- 
fuctory  answer — would  he  have  con* 
cealed  his  knowledge  of  the  danger 
from  the  governor  of  the  country 
which  was  to  be  the  first  invaded  ?  of 
that  in  which  the  force  was  to  have 
been  collected  ?  Would  he  not  instant- 
ly have  requested  gov.  Meade  to  put 
himself  on  his  defence  ?  would  he  not 
instead  of  endeavoring  to  weaken  that 
territory?  by  a  requisition  of  militia 
have  marched  there  with  his  regular 
force,  and  thus  checked  the  first  effort 
of  rebellion  ?  or  would  he  not  have 
nipped  it  in  its  bud,  by  sending  a  copy 
of  his  cypher  letter  to  the  governor  of 
Kentucky,  before  any  force  could  pos- 
sibly have  been  embodied,  or  while  the 
juries  of  the  upper  states  and  territo- 
ries were  groping  in  the  dark,  and  for 
want  of  proof  pronouncing  the  migh- 
ty culprit  innocent  ?  Would  he  not 
have  furnished  that  evidence  which  he 
had  in  his  possession,  and  which  would 
have  exposed  the  traitor  &  his  schemes 
himself  to  detestation  and  ruin. 

If  the  object  of  Mr.  Burr  was  to 
plunder  this  place  of  its  wealth,  and  to 
seize  on  its  shipping,  would  he,  I  ask 
iiave  laid  an  embargo  to  keep  both 
within  his  reach  ?  If  he  had  not  had 
some  other  scheme  than  mere  defence 
against  this  northern  rebellion,  would 
he  have  expended  the  treasure  of  the 
public,  in  erecting  fortifications  in  the 
centre  of  your  city,  useless  against  a 
foreign  foe — efficient  only  to  overawe 
your  citizens,  and  to  ruin  their  proper- 
ties in  its  suburbs  ?  Would,  in  fine,  the 
naval  force  have  been  stationed  along 
the  river  in  smali  detachments  ?  or 
would  they  not  have  been  collected  so 
as  to  act  with  some  advantage  against 
the  descending  force  : — It  is  notorious 
that  at  the  moment  when  he  announ- 
ced the  greatest  danger,  of  the  four 
gun  boats  in  the  river,  only  two  were 
stationed  as  high  up  as  Point  Coupes, 
and  the  two  others  at  long  intervals  on 


the  river,  so  that  they  might  succes- 
sively have  been  taken,  if  half  the  sup- 
posed force  had  descended  with  the 
hostile  army  ;  and  is  it  possible  to  sup- 
pose, that  if  the  object  held  been  to 
interrupt  the  invasion  of  Mexico,  that 
no  part  of  the  naval  force  should  have 
been  stationed  above  Red  river,  Mid 
that  Nachitoches  would  have  been  left 
almost  without  a  garrison  ? — it  is  plain 
therefore,  from  these  acts,  from  these 
omissions,  from  these  arrangements, 
that  no  serious  danger  was  apprebead- 
ed — but  that  for  purposes  best  known 
to  the  General  himself,  and  his  coad- 
jutors, it  was  deemed  necessary  to 
keep  up  the  alarm ;  to  divide  and 
weaken  the  country  ;  to  curb  the  town  ; 
to  keep  all  its  wealth  in  his  power;  to 
scatter  the  naval,  and  render  the  mili- 
tary force  useless ;  to  magnify  the 
force  of  the  enemy,  and  to  terrify  the 
executive  the  legislature  and  the  judi- 
ciary into  a  dereliction  of  their  rights. 
With  the  first,  unfortunately,  he  has 
succeeded  ;  the  last  remain  yet  at 
their  posts,  and  this  day  is  to  deter-*1 
mine  whether  we  are  to  partake  the 
disgrace  of  the  one,  or  share  iu  the 
credit  due  to  the  oilier  !  For  !- 
not  deceive  ourselves  as  to  the  eilect 
which  our  approbation  of  these  mea- 
sures, or  even  our  silence,  will  pro- 
duce. A  sacred  trust  has  been  com- 
mitted to  our  keeping  ;  personal 
honor,  national  dignity,  and  the  so- 
lemn sanction  of  an  oath,  concur  ia 
pointing  out  our  duty.  Should  we  be- 
tray this  trust ;  should  we  disregard 
what  we  owe  to  ourselves,  our  conn- 
try,  and  our  God  ;  should  we  be  bold 
enough  to  bear  the  reproaches  of  that 
internal  Monitor,  which  no  sophistry 
can  refute,  no  pretended  necessity  si- 
lence, no  power  overawe  ;  should  ve 
have  the  hardihood  to  do  this,  I  usk, 
can  the  boldest  of  us  meet  his  consti- 
tuents with  composure,  before  they 
appear  at  their  tribunal  ?  The  effects 
of  this  vain  terror,  if  it  ever  possessed 
their  iirintis,  will  be  dissipated.  When 


t 


,4 


we  render  an  account  of  this  winter's 
transactions,  will  they,  I  say,  be  satis- 
fied with  our  list  of  divorces  ?  with 
our  tniHtia  arrangements  ?  or  even 
with  our  grand  reforms  in  the  judicia- 
rj,  if  they  should  be  effected  ?  No 
sir?  they  will  enquire  of  us  about 
events  which  more  nearly  concern 
them  ;  they  will  enquire  of  their  vio- 
lated rights;  they  will -ask  about  their 
constitution,  committed  to  our  care  ; 
and  in  a  stern  accent,  in  which  the 
the  voice  of  the  Profile  must  afifirar  to 
jxe  the  voice  of  God,  they  will  demand 
Whether  we  did  not,  in  his  awful  pre- 
sence, swear  that  we  would  preserve 
that  constitution  inviolable  forever  ? — 
They  will  then  point  to  the  open,  a- 
Towed,  undisguised  infractions  it  has 
received  in  our  presence  ;  before  our 
eyes ;  in  our  own  persons  ;  in  the  ve- 
ry sanctuary  of  our  legislature  ;  and 
ask  us  what  measure  we  took  to  pre- 
serve the  constitution  ?  what  steps  to 
avenge  the  injuries  it  received  ? — • 
What  answers  shall  we,  can  we  give 
to  those  enquiries  ?  shall  we  reply, 
*s  It  Is  true  we  have  sworn  to  preserve 
root*  constitution  and  rights  ;  it  is  true 
we  bare  seen  them  openly  violated  and 
despised  ;  we  saw  the  commerce  of 
your  country  endangered  ;  its  citi- 
zens draped  disgracefully  through 
the  streets,  first  to  a  military  dun- 
geon, then  to  banishment  and  ruin  ; 
it  is  er(?taJIy  true  we  saw  the  peaceful 
traveJler  stopped  on  the  high  way, 
searched  like  a  felon,  and  forced  by 
violence  to  ask  protection  in  passports, 
unknown  and  unauthorized  by  our 
lairs ;  that  private  papers  have  been 
seized,  private  letters  examined  ;  that 
"women and  children  have  suffered  im- 
prisonment, exposed  to  cold  and  hun- 
ger; that  our  own  privileges  have 
been  infringed  ;  that  our  own  dignity 
has  been  destroyed  ;  that  our  country 
lias  been  Pandered  ;  that  your  known 
loyalty  has  been  questioned  ;  and  that 
your  representatives  have  been  insult- 
ed by  a  solemn  proposition  to  violate 


their  oaths,  and  join  in  the  unholy 
work  of  destruction  !  !"  All  this  we 
must  proceed  to  say  we  beheld  with 
tame  submission,  all  this  ;  some  of  it 
countenanced  and  admitted ;  and  when 
solemnly  called  by  the  indignant  voice 
of  our  country,  to  express  in  our  legis- 
lative capacity,  the  feelings  which 
ought  to  glow  in  the  breasts  of  free- 
men, we  excused  these  illegal  acts  ; 
we  palliated  these  enormities  ;  we 
threw  the  mantle  of  legislation  upon 
the  nakedness,  the  folly,  the  vice  of 
executive  acts.  Though  we  could  not 
lessen  the  horror  so  considerably  felt, 
we  meanly  undertook  to  divide  the 
odium :-— we  humbled  ourselves  in 
the  presence  of  a  petty  officer,  and 
terriiied  by  the  bayonets  of  a  single 
regiment,  we  kissed  the  rod,  and  justi- 
fied the  reproach  of  your  enemies,  by 
our  mean  submission  and  flattery,  that 
"  you  are  not  Jilt  to  be  fret;  /" 

Shall  we  be  obliged  to  make  this 
humiliating  confession  ?  No  sir,  it  is 
yet  in  our  power  to  retrieve  the  credit 
we  have  lost — to  assume  the  character 
that  befits  us — to  address  the  legisla- 
ture of  our  country  in  the  language  of 
manly  freedom — to  shew  to  the  execu 
tive  how  much  he  has  been  deceived 
and  betrayed,  by  the  civil  and  military 
chiefs  ;  and  to  give  him  an  opportuni- 
ty of  dismissing  the  weakness  that  de- 
grades, and  the  tyranny  that  ruins  his 
service  in  this  territory.  And  yet  sir, 
it  is  principally  for  our  own  credit, 
that  we  ought  to  seize  this  occa- 
sion of  shewing  that  we  are  not  the 
unworthy  representatives  of  a  patri- 
otic people.  For,  whatever  ideas  we 
may  have  of  our  duty,  the  representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  will  know 
theirs  ;  though  we  may  be  silent,  they 
will  speak  ;  they  are  fearless,  though 
we  may  tremble  ;  and  should  we  flat- 
ter, they  will  never  cringe  ; — and  next 
to  the  consolation  of  having  done  my 
own  duty,  I  find  one  in  the  certainty 
that  there  are  at  least  one  hundred  and 
thirteen  independent  men  in  ourcoun- 


3 


oils,  who  have  remembered  their  oaths 
and  will  punish  the  betrayers  of  their 
country. 

DR.  W ATKINS.— Sir;  I   oppose 
the  gentleman's  (mr.  Donaldson)  mo- 
tion.    I    consider   it  u  subterfuge  to 
get  rid  of  the  memorial   altogether  ; 
and  I  think  I  am  warranted  in  saying, 
from  the  conduct  of  that  gentleman,  & 
his  friends,  that  if  you   consent  to  his 
wish,  the  memorial  will   never   more 
make  its  appearance  in   this  house. — . 
The  gentleman  says  it  contains  errors. 
If  so,  and   he  or   any  other   member 
will  give  himself  the  trouble  to  point 
them  out,  they  can  be  corrected   in  a 
committee  of  the  whole  house,  as  well 
and  at  least  as  expeditiously  as  in   any 
other  way.     I   am  disposed  to  believe 
that  there  may   be    some    few  errors, 
but  they  are  of  a  trifling   nature,  and 
not  calculated  to  effect  the  body  of  the 
memorial  in  any  material  or  import- 
ant point.     I  have  too  great  a  respect 
for  the  constituted   authorities   of  my 
country,  too  much  regard  for  the  char- 
acter of  this  house,  and  too  high  a  re- 
verence for  the  dignity  of  that  tribu- 
nal to  whose  justice  we  are  about  to 
appeal,  ever  to  consent  that  your  me- 
morial shall  be  disgraced  by  one  doubt- 
ful fact,   or  one  disrespectful  expres- 
sion ;  and  I  have  too  much  regard  for 
my  own  reputation,  to   suffer   myself 
to  he  guided  by  any   other  principle 
than  that  of  truth  ;  by  any  other  mo- 
tives than  those  whose  object  are  the 
public   welfare.      If  sir,   the   gentle- 
man's motion  should  fail,  and  I  flatter 
myself  it  will,  I  shall  propose  such  al- 
terations as  in  my  opinion  ought  to  be 
made  in  the  memorial,  when  it  comes 
to  be  discussed  by  paragraphs.     But 
when  I  take  a  view  of  the  conduct  of 
this  house  ;  when  I  advert  to  the  ex- 
traordinary  and   unprecedented    pro- 
ceedings which  took  place  this  morn- 
ing of  attempting  to  thrust  the  memo- 
rial out  of  doors,   without  even  suffer- 
ing it  to  be  read,  I  am  compelled   to 
believe  it  is  the  object  of  that  gentle- 


man and  his  friends,  not  oiJy  to  reject 
it,  but  to  avoid  if  possible,  any  discus- 
sion on  the  subject.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances I  shu.il  avail  myself  of  the 
present  opportunity  to  make  some  ob- 
servations on  the  memorial  itself. 

It  will  be  recollected  sir,  that  I  sug- 
gested the  propriety  of  such  a  mea- 
sure at  the  beginning  of  your  session. 
I  thought  it  proper  to  transmit  to  the 
general  government,  a  faithlul  narra- 
tive of  the  principal  events  in  the  po- 
litical history  of  our  country  a  few 
weeks  previous  to  that  time.  The 
same  opinion  seemed  then  unani- 
mously to  prevail  in  this  house  ;  and  a 
committee  was  accordingly  appointed 
to  draw  up  a  memorial  to  congress. 
I  was  solicitous  for  the  memorial  to  go 
on  at  that  time  for  several  reasons.  In 
the  first  place  it  would  have  found  con- 
gress in  session,  and  as  all  communi- 
cation between  the  individuals  of  this 
country  and  the  Atlantic  states,  had 
been  intercepted  by  your  rulers,  who 
seemed  desirous  of  usurping  the  em- 
pire of  thought  as  well  as  that  of  Saw, 
I  deemed  it  expedient  that  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  should  endea- 
vor to  defend  the  honor  and  interests 
of  their  country,  by  presenting  to  the 
general  government,  a  faithful  picture 
of  their  situation .  1 1  cannot  be  denied 
but  at  that  time  it  was  dangerous  for  a 
private  citizen  to  express  any  senti- 
ment in  opposition  to  the  measures  of 
the  day.  It  will  not  be  denied  but  that 
even  upon  this  floor,  (except  when 
your  doors  were  closed)  no  member 
had  courage  enough  to  condemn  the 
conduct  ot  General  Wilkinson.  How- 
ever conscious  he  migrhthe  of  his  own 
innocence  ;  however  high  his  bosom 
might  glow  with  patriotism,  and  how- 
ever great  his  indignation  at  the  wan- 
ton violation  of  the  laws  and  constitu- 
tion of  his  country, — not  one  of  you 
dared  in  those  dangerous  times,  pub- 
licly to  avow  your  real  opinions.  The 
bold  and  independent  conduct  of  the 
representatives  of  a  free  people,  would 


probably  have  been  rewarded  by  a  mi- 
litary arrest — a  violent  separation  from 
his  family  and  friends,  i.nti  an  ignomi- 
nious transportation  to — God  knows 
where — to  a  Spanish  dungeon,  or  at 
least  to  a  distant  part  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  utter  ruin  of  his  fortune, 
and  the  eternal  injury  of  his  honor  and 
reputation.  Again  sir — if  at  that  pe- 
riod of  your  session,  I  could  have  suc- 
ceeded in  sending-  forward  a  proper 
memorial,  I  would  after  having-  voted 
the  necessary  supplies  for  the  support 
of  the  government,  and  providing  by 
all  the  means  in  our  power  for  the 
protection  and  safety  of  the  country, 
have  p-oposed  to  this  house  to  adjourn, 
because  it  was  insulting  to  exhibit  to  a 
people  just  admitted  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  boasted  principles  of  Rejrubli- 
camxm*  the  deplorable  spectacle  of  a 
military  chief  in  the  very  presence  of 
their  legislature,  violating  not  only  the 
laws  and  constitution  of  their  own  ter- 
ritory, but  trampling  under  foot  that 
sacred  charter  of  freedom,  which  had 
been  erected  at  the  expence  of  the 
blood  and  treasure  of  so  many  of  our 
ancestors.  What  was  the  language  of 
every  native  LouisianJftri  on  that  occa- 
sion ?  formerly,  (scdd  they)  such 
conduct  wouid  not  have  surprised  us  ; 
we  were  then  at  the  mercy  of  arbitra- 
ry power.  But  we  had  been  told  that 
our  siiuution  was  cl"u<n<red  ;  that  we 
ire  re  governed  by  laws,  and  not  by 
the  caprice  of  men  ;  that  the  rights  of 
the  private  citizen  were  as  sacred  us 
those  of  the  highest  in  authority  ;  that 
the  humblest  cultivator  of  your  soil 
sncl  the  chief  magistrate  of  your  coun- 
try, were  bound  by  the  same  laws,  and 
subject  for  their  violation  to  the  same 
penalties.  What  has  become  of  this 
boasted  liberty,  this  government  of 
laws  ? It  has  fled,  like  a  vision,  be- 
fore the  accursed  influence  of  military 
despotism.  While  you  on  the  one 
hand  are  making  laws  at  an  enormous 
expence  to  your  country  ;  the  com- 
chief  is  violating  them  on 


the  othea,  setting  your  authority  at  de- 
fiance, trampling  upon  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people,  and  prostrating  every 
principle  of  liberty,  which  you  had 
taught  us  to  revere." lor  rea- 
sons best  known  to  your  committee, 
they  never  made  a  report.  And  here 
I  cannot  forbear  remarking  that  they 
did  not  in  my  opinion,  discharge  the 
duty  which  they  owed  to  their  coun- 
try, or  to  the  dignity  of  this  house 

Alter  having  amused  you  for  upwards 
of  forty  days,  you  were  obliged  to  dis- 
charge them  and  name  another  com- 
mittee in  their  place,  who  have  report- 
ed the  memorial  now  under  consider- 
ation. I  am  a  friend  to  this  memorial 
with  the  alterations  I  have  suggested, 
because  in  territorial  governments, 
where  the  principal  officers  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  president  of  the  United 
states,  to  whom  and  to  the  senate  alone 
they  are  responsible  for  their  conduct, 
it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people,  whenever  their 
rights  are  infringed,  to  lay  their  com- 
plaints before  congress,  the  legal  guar* 
diansofthe  liberties  of  the  people.— 
lor  wise  purposes  it  has  been  thought 
proper  to  establish  this  kind  of  govern- 
ment in  remote  parts  of  the  union, 
where  the  number  of  inhabitants  did 
not  justify  the  formation  of  an  inde- 
pendent state.  It  is  a  kind  of  proba- 
tionary state,  (many  of  you,  gentle- 
men, may  think  it  a  purgatory)  thro* 
which  it  is  deemed  necessary  that  we 
should  pass,  before  we  are  admitted  to 
the  full  enjoyment  of  that  glorious  in- 
heritance which  is  the  birth -right,  of 
every  native  born  American.  For 
myself,  I  am  no  great  admirer  of  this 
form  of  government  :  my  objections 
to  it  are  various  :  it  may,  however,  be 
the  best,  which  could  havs  been  devis- 
ed for  us.  In  a  country  like  ours,  just 
emerging' from  despotism,  composed 
of  the  inhabitants  of  various  nations  &c 
languages,  unacquainted  with  political 
concerns,  because  they  had  not  before 
been  allowed  to  take  any  share  in  the 


t  »?  3. 


administration  of  government ;  it  was 
perhaps  good  policy  to  regulate  their 
admission  as  an  independent  member 
of  the  great  American  bnion,  by  gra- 
dual and  progressive  steps.  _  but  it 
never  for  this  purpose  Myas  intended 
t-hat  we  should  be  oppressed.  Con- 
gress did  not  set  over  us  men  who 
were  to  rule  us  according  to  their 
own  arbitrary  will.  On  the  contrary, 
they  extended  to  us  by  express,  writ- 
ten- and  clearly  defined  laws,  the  chief 
of  those  fundamental  principles  of  li- 
berty, recognized  and  secured  by  the 
Federal  Constitution. 

I  am  not  one  of  those  who  are  dis- 
posed  on   slight  grounds  to  censure 
the  conduct  of  public  men.    I  am  well 
aware  of  the  folly  of  attempting,  nay 
of  the  impossibility  of  satisfying  every 
body.  I  hope  however  I  have  discern- 
ment enough  to  see,  Sc  courage  enough 
to   expose    any   wanton  inroads  upon 
our  rights,  under  whatever  name,  or 
by   whatever  specious  pretexts  they 
may  be  sanctioned.      We  are  remov- 
ed at  a  great  distance  from  the  seat  of 
the  general  government.     Until   very 
lately  we  have  had  no  Delegate  upon 
tine  floor  ot  congress  ;  and  as  it  relates 
to  the  subjects  of  which  we  are   now 
speaking,  he  must  be  totally  ignorant. 
W  e  have  been  formerly  calumniated, 
and  we  were  silent.      We  have  been 
recently  denounced,  insulted  and  ac- 
cused of  treason — it  is  therefore  high 
time  to  vindicate  ourselves. 

One  word  mr.  chairman,  as  relates 
to  the  general  state  and  situation  of 
our  country.  We  have  a  population 
ofnearly  60,000  souls,  scattered  over 
a  territory  of  six  hundred  miles  in 
length,  and  nearly  the  same  breadth. 
Of  this  population,  about  one  half  are 
slaves,  one-tenth  free  persons  of  color, 
and  the  remainder  free  white  persons. 
The  whole  of  our  militia,  thinly  dis- 
tributed over  this  extreme  region,  if 
you  except  the  battalion  of  colored 


people,  do  not  amount  to  more  thatf. 
six  thousand  men.     During  cue  exist- 
ence of  the  Spanish  government  here, 
in  addition  to  this  militia,  it  was'  tno't 
necessary  for   the  safety    of  the  coun- 
try, to  keep  up  a  considerable  milita- 
ry force,  and  accordingly  the  King  of 
Spain  maintained  a  standing  army  in 
the  different  parts  of  the  then  provi  nee 
to  the  amount   of  from  two  to  three 
thousand  men  ;  and  that  too  at  a  time 
when    he    was   sole  proprietor  of  the 
whole  country,  and  free  from  the  me* 
nacesofany  enemy.     Since    the  tak- 
ing possession  of  this  country  by  the 
United    States,   we    have    frequently 
been   under  serious  apprehensions  of 
an  attack  on  the  part  of  the  Spaniards. 
They   have   more   than  once  invaded' 
our  territory  :    they  have   constantly 
kept  up  an  armed  force  on  our   fron- 
tiers ;  and   they   are   masters   of  the 
country  not  only  on  the  east  and  west 
cf  our- settlements,  but  are  in  posses- 
sion of  Baton    Rouge,  a   fort   which 
could  be  easily  made  to  command  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  from  a- 
bove,  and  enable  them  at  any  time   to 
lay  waste  the  lower  country,  and  seize 
upon  this  city.      Notwithstanding  this 
exposed,   defenceless   situation  ;  not- 
withstanding the   importance    of  this' 
country  to  the   American  Union  ;  we 
never  have  had  at  any  time,  (if  my  in- 
formation be  correct,)  for  two  or  three 
years  past,  more  than  from  150  to  300 
troops  fit  for  actual  service  in  this  city 
or  its  vicinity.     But  where,  it  will  be 
asked,  are  your  6000  militia  ?     It  has 
already  been  seen  over  what  an  exten- 
sive country  they  are' spread,  exposed 
in  all  directions  to  a  jealous  and   rest- 
less neighbor.      But    this  is    not   all. 
When  the    number  of  our   slaves  i:-, 
taken  into  view,  any  man  in  his  senses 
will  see  that  instead  of  marching  our 
militia  from  their  homes  to  fight  for- 
eign battles,  it  will  be  always  necessa- 
ry in  times  of  war,  to  strengthen  them 

c 


C 


oa  their  own  plantations,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  protecting  their  families,  and 
enabling  them  to  keep  up  a  proper  \\i- 
bordination  among  their  slaves.  Our 
militia  are  moreover  peculiarly  situa- 
ted. They  have  never  been  as  yet, 
owing  to  various  circumstances,  pro- 
perly organised  ;  and  this  country  has 
changed  masters  so  often  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  and  its  political 
relations  so  frequently  varied,  that  it 
would  be  unnatural  to  expect  from  its 
inhabitants  in  the  course  of  a  few 
months,  during  which  time  they  have 
experienced  many  vexations  and  dis- 
appointments, any  very  ardent  affec- 
tion, either  to  our  nation  or  our  go- 
vernment. I  do  not  insinuate  by  these 
observations  that  the  people  of  Loui- 
siana are  not  brave,  and  possessed  of 
all  the  qualifications  which  adorn  the 
character  of  man,  and  render  him  a 
good  citizen  :  I  believe  them  attached 
to  the  principles  of  our  government, 
and  willing  to  sacrifice  their  lives  and 
their  fortunes  in  defence  of  their  coun- 
try :  nor  have  I  taken  this  view  of 
our  situation  for  the  purpose  of  cen- 
suring our  local  or  general  govern- 
ment. I  will  not  firetcnd  to  .^aij  iv/i^re 
the  blame  lies.  I  know  not  whether 
our  real  situation  has  ever  been 
known,  or  whether  if  known,  it  would 
have  been  better  provided  for.  All  I 
contend  for  is,  that  we  have  been  left 
in  a  defenceless,  unprotected  state  ; — 
and  that  at  the  arrival  of  gen.  Wilk- 
inson upon  the  Sabine,  we  were  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Spaniards  or  of  any  ene- 
my that  might  have  chosen  to  make 
war  upon  us.  Judge  then  sir,  of  the 
gratitude  and  affection  with  which 
that  general  was  received,  when  alter 
having  settled  the  difficulties  in  the 
west,  which  had  occasioned  great  un- 
easiness and  alarm,  he  came  with  his 
army  to  take  up  winter  quarters  in  this 
city.  He  was  hailed  with  joy  by  eve- 
ry lover  of  his  country.  We  had 
heard  with  some  anxiety,  it  is  true,  of 


his  having  demanded  of  the  acting  go- 
vernor of  the  Mississippi  territory, 
500  iniiiiia,  and  oi  his  having  given 
oracrs  tor  the  dismantling  roii  Adam* 
ana  for  the  transporting  to  this  city 
all  the  artillery  and  military  stores  of 
that  post.  But  we  flattered  ourselves 
that  it  was  for  the  better  defence  of 
the  country,  and  the  protection  of  its 
inhabitants.  Shortly  after  his  arrival, 
every  thing  was  put  in  motion,  and 
great  preparations  were  made  ibr  re- 
pairing the  old  fortifications.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  soldiers,  a  number  of  ne- 
groes were  hired  at  enormous  expence^ 
— large  contracts  ibr  lumber  and  pick- 
ets were  made — and  we  were  inform- 
ed that  the  whole  city  was  to  be  im- 
mediately put  in  a  state  of  defence — 
Military  guards  were  posted  in  various 
purls  of  the  town — one  of  our  princi- 
pal streets  which  had  cost  the  corpor- 
ation many  hundred  dollars,  was  biock- 
ed  up,  and  public  curiosity  was  excit- 
ed to  an  alarming  pitch— the  most 
profound  mystery  was  observed  on 
the  part  of  the  general  and  the  gover- 
nor, as  to  the  cause  of  these  warlike 
preparations — conjecture  was  on  tip- 
toe ;  and  as  it  is  impossible  to  stifle 
enquiry  in  the  busy  minds  of  freemen, 
every  one  made  war  with  the  nation  he 
liked  the  least,  and  by  turns  the  batte- 
ries of  st.  Charles  and  st.  Louis  were 
made  to  play  against  Spain,  France, 
England  and  even  against  our  own 
country.  The  most  rational  part  of 
the  community  were  lost  in  astonish- 
ment. u  If  we  are  preparing,  (said 
they)  to  fight  a  foreign  foe,  why  desert 
our  frontiers,  entrench  ourselves  in 
New-Orleans,  place  our  safety  in  her 
imperfect  walls ;  and  leave  the  Bal- 
ize,  Fort  St.  John's,  Fort  Adams  and 
the  Walnut  Hills,  unprotected  by  a 
single  cannon  or  a  single  man." 

While  the  public  mind  was  in  this 
state  of  agitation  and  alarm,  an  assem- 
bly of  the  merchants  was  called  at  go- 
vernment house.  To  these  gentle- 


men  the  general  stated  that  Aaron 
J3urr,  in  combination  with  a  number 
of  wealthy  and  influential  characters, 
from  various  parts  of  the  United  States, 
were  engaged  in  a  desperate  and  law- 
less enterprize  to  invade  Mexico,  to 
sever  the  Atlantic  from  the  Western 
states,  to  make  himself  master  of  this 
city,  plunder  the  banks,seize  upon  the 
shipping,  and  under  convoy  of  a  Bri- 
tish fleet,  to  transport  his  army  to  La 
Vera  Cruz.  In  the  prosecution  of 
these  objects,  to  use  the  language  of 
your  memorial,  Burr  himself  was  to 
be  at  Natchez  by  the  15th  or  20th  of 
December,  with  2,000  men,  and  was 
soon  afterwards  to  be  joined  by  a  body 
ef  six  thousand  more.  This  informa- 
tion the  general  said  he  had  received 
partly  by  a  letter  in  cypher,  addressed 
to  him  from  mr.  Burr,  and  partly  by  a 
letter  from  mr.  Dayton,  also  in  cy- 
pher, received  on  the  10th  of  October 
last,  while  at  Natchitoches.  The  o- 
ther  parts  of  the  plan  had  been  com- 
municated to  him  by  accreditted  a- 
gents  of  Burr,  sent  for  that  express 
purpose. 

The  governor  confirmed  the  ac- 
count which  hud  been  given  by  the 
general,  and  read  some  parts  of  a  let- 
ter, which  he  had  received  from  a  gen- 
tleman of  high  respectability  in  Ten- 
nessee, advising  him  to  beware  of 
traitors — to  beware  of  the  20th  of  De- 
cember— to  beware  of  the  ides  of 
March—and  both  him  and  the  gener- 
al united  in  recommending  an  em- 
bargo to  be  laid  on  the  shipping,  which 
was  accordingly  done. 

It  is,  mr.  Chairmain,  difficult  to 
conceive,  but  much  more  so  to  des- 
cribe the  consternation  which  this  dis- 
closure produced  upon  the  public 
mind  ;  but  great  as  it  was,  it  was  e- 
qualled  if  not  surpassed  by  the  honest 
indignation  which  burst  forth  against 
the  authors  of  this  infernal  plot,  from 
the  bosoms  of  every  citizen  of  our 
country.  It  is  impossible  to  deter- 


mine what  description  of  men  were 
most  ardent  to  meet  the  traitorous ,  to® 
— and  I  solemnly  declare  my  belief 
that  there  is  not  a  respectable  citizen 
of  the  territory  who  \vould  not  have 
risked  his  life  in  defence  of  his  coun 
try.  One  or  two  new  volunteer  com- 
panies were  formed,  the  old  ones  were 
augmented,  and  the  battalion  of  Or- 
leans Volunteers  gallantly  offered  their 
services  to  the  executive  for  the  de- 
fence of  their  country.  The  officers 
of  the  militia  were  extremely  active; 
great  exertions  were  made  to  com- 
plete their  organization,  and  every 
demonstration  of  zeal  in  the  common 
cause  given  on  their  part.  There 
seemed  to  be  but  one  object  and  but 
one  mind — resistance  and  death  to  the 
traitors.  While  we  were  engaged  in 
reflecting  upon  these  things,  it  was 
rumored  that  the  general  intended  to 
declare  martial  law,  and  that  the  go- 
vernor meant  to  suspend  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  The  former  part  of 
this  threat  was  in  effect  immediately 
put  partially  into  execution,  and  the 
latter  part  was  suspended  only  for  the 
want  of  power  and  from  a  representa- 
tion of  the  folly  and  danger  of  such  a 
measure.  On  the  13th  of  December 
Doctor  Bollman  was  arrested  in  the 
public  streets  by  a  military  guard,  un- 
der the  orders  of  general  Wilkinson, 
which  was  soon  afterwards  followed  by 
the  arrest  of  Swartwout  and  Ogden.— 
These  gentlemen  had  been  but  a  short 
time  in  the  country,  and  were  known 
but  to  few  of  its  inhabitants.  The  ex- 
traordinary nature,  however,  of  their 
arrest  and  confinement,  in  open  viola- 
tion of  the  best  privileges  of  an  Amer- 
ican citizen,  excited  some  interest  in 
the  public  opinion,  and  induced  their 
friends  to  sue  out  writs  of  habeas  cor- 
pus in  their  favor.  The  first  of  these 
writs  was  issued  by  the  superior  court 
in  favor  of  Bollman,  who  had  already 
been  hurried  out  of  the  country,  or  at 
least  was  so  alledged  by  the  genet- 


$),  out  of  the  reach  of  civil  process 

The  return  to  this  writ  was  perhaps 
the  most  singular  in  manner  an4  stile 
of  any  ever  before  made  to  a  court  of 
justice.  The  general's  approach  to 
the  court  was  announced  by  his  aid  de 
camp,  mr.  Duncan.  He  appeared  at 
the  bar,  with  all  the  po  ;np,  and  was 
eloathecl  with  all  the  insignia  of  mili- 
tary power.  He  informed  their  honr 
ors,  that  he  took  upon  himself  all  res- 
ponsibility for  the  arrest  of  Errick 
Bollman,  and  that  he  had  adopted  mea- 
sures for  his  safe  delivery  to  the  exe- 
cutive of  the  JJnited  States,  as  he 
would  do  with  all  others,  without  rer 
gard  to  standing  or  station,  against 
who.m  satisfactory  proof  of  guilt  might 
arise  in  his  mind.  He  enlarged  coiir 
s;'-:i  ably  upon  the  extent  of  the  con- 
spl/ucy  ;  the  great  and  imminent  dan- 
ger to  which  we  were  immediately 
exposed;  the  wealth,  the  talents  and 
number  of  Burr's  associates  ;  and, 
casting  his  eyes  around  upon  an  appall- 
ed 7iiu ititude,  declared,  tfrat  even  with- 
in this  city,  there  were  many  enemies 
to  their  country  ;  that  treason  not  only 
lurked  in  your  hiding  places,  but  stalk- 
ed proudly  through,  yo.ur  streets  at 
raid  day  !  The  several  documents  in 
support  of  these  allegations,  particu- 
larly Burr's  and  Dayton's  letters  in 
cypher,  and  p;irts  of  the  letter  which 
the  governor  had  received  from  Ten- 
nessee, suppressing  as  the  governor 
had  done  before  him,  the  name  of  its 
i  author,  and  whatever  related  to  the 
general  himself !  He  further  said  that 
it  was  after  several  consultations  with 
.  the  Governor  and  two  of  the  judges  of 
•  the  Territory,  viz.  Hall  and  Mathews, 
that  he  had  hazarded  this  step,  but 
being  contradicted  by  the  honorable 
I  Judge  Mathews,  the  general  replied, 
«  that  he  had  understood  him  to  that  ef- 
i  feet,  and  then  looking  down  upon  the 
;  bar,  he  called  out  for  two  of  its  mem- 
bers, and  denounced  them  as  traitors 
to  their  country.  The  disgraceful 


scene  that  followed,  should  be  buried 
in  ete.n  -.1  oblivion.  Great  God  i  shall 
the  sacred  te  upie  of  justice  be  con- 
verted (by  an  American  officer)  into  a 
club  of  revolutionary  tumult,  and  mi- 
litary denunciation  ?  an  1  shall  IAG  ci- 
tizens of  freedom  looii  tamely  on  ? 
Shall  the  insulted  ministers  of  the  law 
return  thanks  to  its  violator,  applaud 
his  conduct,  bow  before  hi  n,  and  kneel 
at  his  feet  ?  The  Gen  ral  retired,  not 
to  the  puce  which  he  deserved,  but 
in  triumph,  and  the  friends  of  the  con- 
stitution departed  with  grief  and  in- 
dignation and  despair-^  to  bewail  the 
misfortunes  of  their  country.  The  ef- 
fects of  this  disastrous  day  were  soon 
every  where  discovered.  Suspicion 
became  identified  with  treason.  Eve- 
ry one  conscious  of  his  own  innocence 
and  believing  the  declaration  of  the  ge- 
neral to  be  true,  concluded  that  others 
were  guilty — public  as  well  as  private 
confidence  was  lost — individual  friend- 
ship was  destroyed — di  the  bonds  of 
society  were  torn  asunder — <ncl  public 
tranquility  as  well  as  domestic  happi- 
ness were  banished  from  our  shores  : 
—•Broils  and  party  spirit  succeeded  in 
their  places ;  and  the  contention  was 
between  the  friends  of  the  law,  and 
the  advocates  for  arbitrary  power. — 
The  people  however  were  still  united 
upon,  ons  point— resistance  to  Burr. — »• 
A  similar  return  was,  in  the  last  resort 
made  to  the  habeas  cor/ius  in  the  case 
of  Ogden,  who  after  having  been  once 
set  at  liberty  by  the  civil  authority, 
was  a  second  time  arrested  and  con- 
fined along  with  mr.  Alexander,  by 
the  orders  of  the  general. 

In  the  mean  time  guards  were  plac- 
ed above  the  city  to  arrest  and  exam- 
ine all  travellers,  to  stop  all  boats,  ex- 
amine their  passengers,  and  to  fire 
upon  the  boats  which  refused  to  come 
to  ! — a  detachment  of  dragoons  was 
sent  to  Manchac,  with  the  same";  and 
additional  orders  to  break  open  and  ex- 
amine all  letters  and  other  papej?a 


fbund   in   the  possession    of   travel- 
lers. 

A  second  regulation  was  established 
mo-king  it  necessary  for  vessels  and 
citizens  of  this  territory?  as  well  as  o- 
ther  persons,  to  furnish  themselves 
with  passports ;  and  those  who  ne- 
glected to  do  so,  were  compelled  to  re- 
turn  to  the  ci':y  of  New-Orleans,  in 
search  of  a  document,  the  necessity  of 
which  had  never  heen  publicly  noti- 
fied. 

While  these  things  were  going  on, 
at  the  3:Uizs  and  in  the  country,  your 
post-o.Tice  was  erected  into  an  inq'risi- 
ti on  ;  private  letters  were  broken  o- 
pen ;  the  secrets  of  individuals  ware 
disclosed  ;  and  the  reputation  of  every 
honest  man  exposed  to  the  mercy  of 
every  malicious  scribbler.  The  pri- 
vate as  well  as  public  conduct  of  indi- 
viduals, was  watched  ;  and  they  were 
alarmed,  menaced  or  intreated,  accor- 
ding to  the  timidity  or  firmness  of 
their  dispositions  :  secret  depositions 
were  taken,  without  the  knowledge  of 
those  they  were  intended  to  criminate  : 
and  characters  were  to  be  tried,  for  ac- 
{  quittal  or  infamy-.before  a  judge  whose 
own  fidelity  had  long  been  suspected. 
The  information,  however,  from  Ken- 
tucky, the  pretended  seat  of  the  con- 
spiracy, did  not  altogether  comport 
with  the  fears  as  to  the  dreadful  situa- 
tion into  which  the  public  conduct  of 
our  rulers  had  reduced  this  unfortun- 
ate city.  Boats  were  constantly  de- 
scending the  river  ;  private  commu- 
nications were  daily  received,  and  it  did 
not  appear  that  they  were  under  any 
great  apprehension  there,  either  for 
their  own,  oroursafetv.  Burr  it  is 
true  was  wandering  through  that  and 
the  neighboring  states  in  a  suspicious 
manner  ;  some  apprehension  had 
been  excited  in  the  public  mind,  and 
he  had  been  twice  arraigned  before 
the  district  court  of  Kentucky,  for 
hostile  intentions  against  the  peace  of 
-the  unipn,  but  was  acquitted  on  both 


occasions.  Such  was  the  situation  of 
aifoirs,  when  in  the  afternoon  of  ;-.i3 
14t.li  of  January,  General  A.Uiv  arriv- 
ed among  us.  This  gentleman  it  had 
been  reported  was  to  hold  a  div,iti- 
guished  command  in  Burr's  army.  He 
made  his  entry  into  this  city  about  one 
o'clock  alone  and  unarmed.  Hs  took 
up  his  lodging  at  a  public  boarding 
house,  and  being  indisposed  sent  a 
messenger  to  the  governor  to  inform 
him  of  his  arrival,  and  requesting  that 
information  might  be  sent  to  Gener.d 
Wilkinson  to  the  same  effect.  He. 
mentioned  that  he  had  left  Nashville 
on  the  2 2 d  of  December,  and  that  Burr 
was  then  tiie-e  with  only  two  flat  boats, 
destined  for  this  city.  He  had  never 
been  in  New-Orleans  but  once  before, 
in  1800,  when  ne  remained  only  a. 
few  days  ;  and  could  not,  therefore, 
have  any  extensive  acquaintance  with 
its  inhabitants.  H^  had  very  recent- 
ly occupied  a  distinguished  piace  in 
the  councils  of  the  government,  and 
was  held  high  in  the  estimation  of  his 
country,  as  a  man  of  talents  and  brave- 
ry. About  four  o'clock  on  the  same 
day  of  his  arrival,  Whilst  at  dinner,  a 
detachment  of  the  regular  troops,  con- 
sisting of  one  hundred  and  twenty  men 
commanded  by  colonel  Kingsbury, 
accompanied  by  one  of  the  general's 
aids,  posted  themselves  before  the 
door  of  the  hotel :  A:bir  was  violent- 
ly dragged  from  the  table  ;  paraded 
through  the  streets,  exposed  to  the  pi- 
tying gaze  of  hundreds  of  his  astonish- 
ed fellow  citizens,  and  indisposed  as 
he  AV.IS,  committed  to  close  confine- 
ment in  a  cold,  uncomfortable  room  at 
the  barracks.  They  beat  to  arms 
through  the  different  streets  of  the  ci- 
ty ;  all  the  inhabitants  were  in  corn- 
motion  ;  the  battalion  of  volunteers  and 
a  number  of  the  regular  troops  were 
ordered  under  arms  ;  and  three  other 
gentlemen,  inhabit -tnts  of  the  city,  anft 
ail  of  the  in  holding  offices  under  the 
tsrrUoriai  government)  v-'oro  arreatfed 


C     22     } 


and  conveyed  to  Head-Qmrters.  Two 
of  these  gentlemen  were  liberated  by 
writs  of  hab'C!.*  CO-/IHS,  and  the  other 
was  voluntarily  released  by  the  gener- 
al himself  some  time  after.  A  few 
days  subsequent  to  this  period,  ceruin 
information  WAS  received  of  the  aniv- 
valofBurrin  the  neighborhood  of  Nat- 
chez, with  thirteen  flit  boats,  loaded 
principally  with  provisions,  and  with 
only  a  sufficient  number  of  men  to 
conduct  them  down  the  river :  no 
guns,  ammunition  or  other  military 
sto"es  were  found  on  board,  more 
than  is  commonly  met  with  in  Ken- 
tucky boits.  And  from  that  time  to 
his  surrendering  himself  to  the  civil 
authority,  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
was  joined  by  any  additional  force. 

Notwithstanding  Burr's  surrender, 
however  ;  notwithstanding  the  most 
Tinequi  vocal  evidence  of  the  feeble- 
ness of  his  force  and  the  failure  of  his 
plans  ;  notwithstanding  the  conviction 
in  the  mind  of  every  man  of  reflection 
of  the  want  of  legal  power  in  territori- 
al governments,'  to  suspend  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  ;  he  governor 
<*f  the  territorv  addressed  to  this  house 
on  the  10th  of  February,  a  message 
recommending  that  measure,  and  as- 
^Kmirrj;  as  his  reason  for  so  doing,  that 
he  had  been  "  recently  advised  of  the 
»r>proach  to  this  rity  of  an  agent  of 
the  conspirators,  of  his  name,  the  route 
ho  had  taken,  and  the  object  of  his 
mission  ;  but  that  he  had  it  not  in  his 
power  to  adduce  such  proof  as  would 
justify  a  civil  magistrate  to  commit 
him  to  prison."  An  American  citizen 
against  whom  suspicion  was  entertain- 
ed, but  of  whose  guilt  no  proof  could 
be  adduced,  was  expected  in  your  city, 
and  it  was  probable  that  he  would  be 
rescued  from  that  suspicion  by  the  ap- 
plication of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus, 
and  placed  upon  a  footing  which  the 
laws  of  your  country  entitled  him  to, 
and  you  are  called  upon  by  the  execu- 
tive of  this  territory  to  take  away  not 


only  from  htm,  but  from  every  other- 
citizen,  the  great  constitutional  bul- 
wark of  the  liberties  of  the  American 
people.  The  fate  of  this  message  is 
well  known.  But  sir,  to  the  shame  of 
this  house,  let  me  ask,what  would  have 
been  its  fate  had  not  the  minority  re- 
sorted to  the  measure  of  consulting 
the  judiciary  of  ou1*  country.  During 
the  time  of  three  days  of  secret  debate 
which  this  important  question  occupi- 
ed, it  was  evidently  seen  that  a  large 
majority  of  this  house,  was  determin- 
ed at  all  hazzards  (I  will  not  question 
their  motives)  to  second  the  views  of 
the  executive.  Some  of  your  mem- 
bers were  bold  enough  to  say,  that  the 
governor  had  recommended  the  mea- 
sure ;  and  that  it  must  therefore  be 
proper.  I  am  however  both  for  my- 
self and  my  country  grateful  to  them, 
for  yielding  their  opinions  to  superior 
wisdom  ;  and  leave  it  to  the  world  to 
deckle  how  far  the  governor  was  justi- 
fiable (or  ignorant  of  your  powers)  in 
recommending,  for  the  apprehension 
of  one  suspected  individual,  the  sus- 
pension of  the  dearest  privilege  of  an 
American  citizen. 

From  the  view  I  have  taken  of  this 
subject,  mr.  Chairman,  you  will  not 
be  induced  to  believe  that  I  have  any 
doubt  of  the  existence  of  a  plan  to  sub- 
vert our  government,  and  to  invade 
the  dominions  of  Spain.  On  the  con- 
trary, sir,  I  most  firmly  believe  it  ;  I 
beiieve  that  such  a  plan  has  been  long 
in  agitation,  that  it  has  taken  deep  root 
and  spread  through  a  great  portion  of 
the  United  States.  But  sir,  I  am  per- 
suaded from  the  facts  I  have  detailed, 
that  I  can  convince  you,  this  honorable 
house  and  the  whole  world,  that  its  ori- 
gin is  not  to  be  found  in  Burr's  cypher- 
ed letters,  in  Dayton's  communicati- 
ons, or  in  Burr's  agents  to  Wilkinson  ; 
and  that  its  defeat  is  not  to  be  ascribed 
to  the  affected  patriotism  either  of 
gen.  Wilkinson  or  gov.  Claiborne. 
The  officiously  lopping  off  limbs  to 


(     23 


preserve  the  body  may  answer  the  am- 
bitious, avaricious  purposes  of  an  igno- 
rant quack,  but  will  never  meet  the 
sanction  of  a  sound  intelligent  physi- 
cian, who  upon  taking  a  view  of  the 
whole  distemper,  clearly  sees  that 
such  mutilations  can  have  no  other  ef- 
fect than  to  weaken  the  body,  and  hur- 
ry his  patient  to  death.  I  have  no  idea 
that  your  constitution  is  to  be  preserv- 
ed by  trampling-  it  under  foot — that 
your  laws  are  to  be  maintained  by  set- 
ting them  at  defiance.  No  man  will 
doubt  that  Burr  was  a  conspirator,  and 
if  we  believe  Wilkinson,  that  Dayton 
and  many  others  were  concerned  with 
him.  Let  us  look  at  his  conduct.  If 
I  am  not  mistaken  the  last  time  he 
met  the  general  at  the  Federal  City, 
he  accosted  him  nearly  in  the  follow- 
ing words  :  (my  authority  is  governor 
Claiborne)— General  what  are  you  a- 
bout — What  has  become  of  your  am- 
bition—Your love  of  glory  and  danger- 
ous enterprise  ?  I  possess  these  quali- 
ties, replied  the  general,  in  the  same 
Degree  I  ever  did.  Then  what  are 
you  doing  here,  said  Burr  ?  Point  out 
to  me  a  held  said  the  general  and  1  am 
your  man.  Burr  pointed  to  iViexico 
—-and  the  remainder  of  the  conversa- 
tion was  in  secret,  and  is  still  unknown 
to  us.  The  general  is  appointed  to  the 
government  of  Louisiana,und  we  short- 
ly afterwards  find  Burr  on  his  way  to 
that  country.  Why  this  visit  ?  Was  it 
for  the  pleasure  of  traversing  a  wilder- 
ness of  several  hundred  miles  in  ex- 
tent ?  Was  it  to  examine  the  dreary 
plains  rf  the  Indiana  territory  ?  To 
take  a  view  of  the  wretched  villages  of 
Kaskaskias  or  Kahokia  ?  or  was  it  to  see 
gen.  Wilkinson  ?  From  St.  Louis  he 
descends  to  New-Orleans,  not  as  an 
ordinary  traveller,  but  in  an  elegant 
barge,  manned  by  the  troops  of  the 
United  States,  soldiers  under  the  ge- 
nerals command.  To  whom  is  he  in- 
troduced, and  in  what  style  ?  To  the 
old  friends  of  the  general,  and  in  terms 
»f  the  highest  recommendation)  both 


as  to  his  talents  and  probity.  He 
spends  a  few  d*.ys  here — returns  to  St. 
Louis — talks  over  v-iih  the  general 
the  plan  oflnvading-  Mexico  (ridicules 
a  iboiish  club  he  hud  heard  of  at  Ncw- 
Orlcans,  established  upon  patriotic 
principles)  and  departs  for  the  Atlan- 
tic states.  The  next  news  we  hear  o£ 
him  is  at  Philadelphia,  in  the  mouth 
of  August,  from  whence  he  writes  to 
the  general,  not  as  \cu  or  I  would 
write,  but  a  letter  in  cypher,  a  lan- 
guage unknown  lo  any  one  but  them- 
selves, in  which  he  states  that  he  had 
obtained  funds,  and  actually  commenc- 
ed the  enterprise — An  enterprise  hi 
which  Wilkinson  was  to  be  second  to 
Burr  only  ?  in  which  Wilkinson  was  to 
dictate  the  rank  and  promotion  of  his 
oilicers.  Examine  this  communica- 
tion sir,  and  compare  its  contents  with 
your  knowledge  of  the  human  heart. — 
What  internal  evidence  does  it  con- 
tain ?  Put  your  judgment  under  the 
controul  of  that  evidence,  and  follow 
me  from  Natchitoches  to  New-Or- 
leans, and  the  honorable  gentleman 

from  Acacliawiil  lose  his  motion.- 

\\  licit  did  the  general  do  on  the  re- 
ceipt of  Burr's  letter?  lie  writes  to 
the  president  of  the  United  States,  gi- 
ving him  some  account  of  the  scheme. 
This  was  proper,  lint  what  ought  lie 
to  have  clone  further  ?  He  knew  that 
Burr  was  in  Kentucky,  and  that  the 
vnterfirize  had  not  yet  made  much  pro- 
gress. We  knew  that  the  documents 
in  his  possession,  if  forwarded  in  legal 
form,  to  the  governor's  of  Kentucky, 
Tennessee  and  Ohio,  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  enable  the  constituted  author- 
ities of  those  states  to  seize  the  traitor 
and  stifle  at  once  the  whole  nefarious 
plan.  He  knew  from  Gen.  Wilkinson's 
correspondence  with  Burr  that  these 
documents  might  have  been  sent  in 
time  to  meet  him  there,  to  surprise 
his  army,  if  he  hud  one,  and  capture 
its  chief.  Did  he  do  this  ?  No  sir; 
whilst  the  honest  state  of  Kentucky 
was  groping  in  the  dark  for  testimony 


24      ) 


— while  she  was  endeavoring  to  get 
some  clue  for  the  discovery  of  Burr's* 
guilt,  General  Wilkinson,  in  posses- 
sion of  damning  proofs  against  him, 
v/i»s  not  only  silent  upon  the  subject, 
but  wrapped  himself up  in  mystery  <k 
suspicion  ;  and  took  such  a  sUuid  as 
placed  his  conduct,  «nd  the  whoie  of 
his  operations  in  the  most  equivocal 
point  of  view.  What  would  have  been 
the  fate  of  Burr  and  his  accomplices, 
had  the  courier  mr.  Smith,  on  his  way 
to  Washington,  left  a  copy  of  Wilk- 
inson's testimony  with  the  governors 
of  Tennessee,  Kentucky  and  Ohio  ? — 
He  passed  through  Nashville  about 
the  middle  of  November,  previous  to 
Burr's  trials  in  Kentucky,  and  thirty 
or  forty  days  previous  to  his  depar- 
ture from  Tennesse.  What  was  the 
general  about  ?  We  find  him  at  Nat- 
chez on  the  tenth  of  November  soli- 
citing the  acting  governor  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi territory  for  500  of  his  militia. 
But  the  governor  it  seems  had  the  as- 
tonishing insolence  to  demand  for 
what  purpose  these  men  were  want- 
ed ?  The  general  refused  to  satisfy 
his  curiosity?  and  the  men  were  not 
granted.  Why  this  demand  on  the 
part  of  the  general  ?  Burr  was  ex- 
pected at  Natchez  in  a  few  days  with 
2900  troops,  and  therefore  the  gover- 
nor of  that  tervritory  must  send  500 
of  his  militia  to  New-Orleuns — he 
must  disarm  himself,  deprive  l.is 
country  of  its  only  force,  and  leave  its 
inhabitants  unprotected — a  prey  to 
their  own  slaves,  or  the  neighboring 
savages— and  for  what  ?  Because  in 
a  short  time  a  powerful  enemy  was 
to  be  at  his  gates.  Further  sir — why 
dicl  the  general  conceal  from  governor 
Meade  the  projects  of  Burr  'i  Was 
it  to  put  him  on  his  guard,  to  enable 
him  to  make  a  stand  against  the  inva- 
der ?  or  was  it  to  lull  him  to  siee*?, 
that  his  country  might  be.  found  open 
anddefenceles<:7  and  the  road  to  NV\v- 
Orleans  free,  from  obstructions?  I 
the  gentlemen  sir,  to  an- 


swer these  questions.  I  will-  now* 
proceed  to  New-wrleans.  A  lew  days 
alter  the  general's  arrival  in  this  city, 
governor  Ckiborne  did  me  the  honor, 
under  tiie  most  solemn  injunction  of 
secrecy,  to  disclose  to  me  ail  the  par- 
ticulars of  Burr's  projects,  and  to  con- 
sult me  aa  to  the  best  measures  that 
could  be  adoptee!  ior  the  safety  of  tne 
country.  He  seemed  to  be  confounded 
with  fear  cc  aatpntshnUi  nt,  and  observed 
that  from  the  general's  account,  Burr 
had  many  powerful  friends  in -this  ci- 
ty. He  asked  me  whether  I  hact  a~ 
ny  knowledge  upon  that  subject  ;  and 
intreated  me  if  I  had  to  communicate 
it  to  him  with  thut  candor  and  love  of 
my  country  which  he  did  me  the  honor 
to  say  he  knew  I  possessed.  I  replied 
thut  I  never  had  heard  of  such  a 
scheme,  and  that  I  firmly  believed 
there  was  not  a  man  in  the  territory, 
(the  agents  and  officers  of  foreign  go- 
vernments excepted)  who  would  not 
risk  his  life  for  its  defence — That-  up* 
on  the  integrity  oi  the  union  depend- 
ed the  liberties  not  only  of  this  terri- 
tory, but  of  the  whole  American  em- 
pire, and  that  I  was  warranted  in  say- 
ing from  a  knowledge  of  the  public 
sentiment  and  the  character  of  the 
people  at  large,  that  Burr  nor  no  o~ 
ther  man  either  had,  or  would  ever  be 
able  to  find  among  the  people  of  Loui- 
si..  na,  friends  to  a  scheme  pregnant 
with  so  much  ruin  and  marked  with 
infamy.  I  further  observed  that  he 
himself  must  have  heard  much  conver- 
saiion  upon  the  subject  of  a  war  with 
Sp.. in,  and  an  invasion  of  Mexico  in 
case  of  that  event.  That  this  was  a 
favorite  topic  with  all  the  true  Ameri- 
cans in  this  country,  as  well  as  with 
many  of  the  native  Louisianians—- 
That  some  time  since,  when  from 
the  political  relations  between  the  U- 
riity.i  states  and  Span-,  every  man  of 
sense  was  apprehensive  that  war  would 
be  the  result,  a  club  v/as  formed  in 
this  city,  culled  the  Me.iican  society 
— That  it  had  for  Us  object  collecting 


(  25  jr- 


That  it  had  for  its  object  collecting 
information  relative   to  the   popula- 
tion  and  force  of  the   internal  pro- 
vincesof  Spain,  wl  ich    in   th«  event 
of  war,  might   be  ufeful  to  the  Uni- 
ted States — That   I  was  a   member 
of  that  club,  and  that   the  principal 
members  of  it  were  men  of  great   ta- 
lents and  high  ftanding   in    focietv, 
and  diftinguifhed   for   their  zeal   in 
fupport  of  our   government.      But  I 
allured  him  upon  the  honor  of  a  gen- 
tlemen,  that    the    fociety  had  ceafed 
toexift   for   many    months — 'that  we 
never  had  heard  of  Burr's  plans,  and 
that  neither  dire&Jy  or  indirectly  did 
I  ever  hear   from   him  or  any  other 
man   upon    earth,  any    proportions 
hoftile  to  the  ir.terefts   of  the   United 
States,  or    any    other    nation     with 
which  we  were   at   peace.     His  ex- 
cellency told  me  that  he  had  not  him- 
felf  feen  the  original  documents  up- 
on   which   the   general    founded    his 
calculaiions— but  that  he  had  receiv- 
ed verbally  from  him  a  full  and  fatis  - 
factory  account  of  them.     I  fugged  - 
ed  the    propriety    of  his    obtaining 
certified  copies  of  all  the   important 
facts  5  and  of  hi-  immediately  tranf- 
mitting  them  to  the  governors  of  the 
upper  ftates  and  territories,   as  well 
as  to  the    prefident   of  the    United 
States.     I  advifed  him  immediately 
to  difpatch  couriers  for   that  puipffe, 
and  offered  my  services,    to   fet  out 
the  next  day.    ifneceflary,   to  Ken- 
tucky.    I  told  him  that  I  had  confi- 
dence in  the  patriotifm  and  integrity 
of  the  upper  country  ;  and  as  the  ge- 
neral had  neglected  to  give  them   in^ 
formation  of  their  danger,  it   might 
be  yet  time  ;  and  that   at  all  event* 
it  was  his  duty  to  do  fo.     I  fuggefted 
the  propriety  of  his  taking  a    ftrong 
ground  ;  calling  out  and  putting  in- 
to aclu:il  fervice   few.ral  hundred   of 
bis  militia,  and  ot  his  retaining  them 


under  his  own  command.  I  oppof- 
ed  the  declaring  martial  law,  or  the 
fufpenfion  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 
I  confidered  fuch  meafures  unnecef- 
fary,  illegal  ts5  calculated  to  excite  a- 
larm,deitroy  ail  confidence  in  the  civil 
authority,  &  throw  the  wNole  govern- 
ment into  the  hands  of  the  military 
chief.  I  took  a  view  of  the  general 
conduct  of  that  officer,  &  although  I 
hop.d,  ££  was  willing  to  believe  <hat 
he  might  be  actuated  by  the  beft  of 
motives,  yet  1  thought  his  conduct  not 
calculated  to  infpire  that  confidence 
which  the  public  fafety  fo  urgently  re. 
quired. 

In  giving  thefe  opinions  I  difchafsed 
my  duty-^but  the  Executive  thought 
proper  to  take  a  different  courfe.  We 
fee  him  immediately  afterwards  con- 
feeing  to,  and  approving  of  unlawful 
military  arreftsj  und  the  tranfporta- 
tion  ot  your  fellow  citizens— You 
fee  him  advifing  an  illegal  embargo 
upon  your  (hipping,  transferring  to 
the  General  the  command  of  the  Bat- 
talion of  Orleans  Volunteers  with- 
out their  confent  or  knowledge,  and 
you  fee  this  refpeaable  corps  conver- 
ted into  conftables  and  catchpoles 

You  fee  them  employed  in  dragging 
their  former  friends  and  companion^ 
from  their  houfes,  paiading  them 
through  the  (freets  to  their  places  of 
confinement.  You  fee  them  pofted 
on  the  road  engaged  in  the  odious  tafk 
of  hunt  ing  down  their  fellow  citizens, 
fearching  their  pockets,  breaking  o- 
pen  their  letters  and  acling  as  fpies 
upon  their  conduct.  Could  you  fir 
approve  of  fuch  meafures  as  thefe,  and 
will  you  now  withhold  a  knowledge 
of  them  from  the  General  Govern- 
ment ?  I  ventured  from  the  beginning 
to  refufe  them  my  approbation,  and 
when  acling  under  the  obligations  of 
Executive  favor  and  in  fpite  of  threats 
and  intreaties  I  dared  upon  this  floor 
D  r 


to  Rand  up  in  defence  of  the  violated 
fights  of  my   conftituents.     I  flatter 
myfelf  that  I   (hall  now,    having  got 
j  id  of  ihofe  obligations,  be  entitltd  to 
your  indulgence  for  the  time  I  fhall 
take  i:p,and  your  candid  examination 
of  fiich  arguments  as  my  feeble  tal- 
ents may  enab-e  me  to  make  ufe    of. 
We  have  feen  fir,    that    fufpicion  a- 
3one  was  ftifficient  in  'hcfe  times  to 
infure  your  arrefh      If  you  dared  af 
fert  ir<  m  your  knowledge  of  the  pa- 
triotiim  of  the    vveftern   (rates,  that 
Burr   would     n*t    fucceed — that   he 
never  would  find  in  Kentucky  a   fuf- 
ficient    number   of  men    to   put  his 
plans  into  execution, — you  were  ac- 
cufcd  of  wifhing    to   lull    the  people 
into  a  (late  of  dangerous  fecurity  ;  to 
itifle  the  vigilance  of  government ; 
ar.d  were  therefore  denounced   as  a 
friend  to  Burr.  —  If  you,  on  the  other 
hand,  gave  implicit  confidence  to  all 
the  general's  information  ;     if  you 
believed  that  Burr  could   eafily  raife 
6  or  10,000  men,  and  that  fuch  was 
his  character  and   talents  that    with 
that  force  nothing  could   flop  him, 
you  were  equally  his  friend,   and  a 
traitor  to  your  country. 

If  you  admitted  that  danger  exift- 
ed,  but  avowed  the  opinion  that  the 
laws  of  your  country  were  adequate 
to  its  fuppreffion,  and  that  your  courts 
of  juftice  were  open  ;  you  were  told 
that  it  was  aecefTary  *'  to  antici- 
pate the  tardy  procefs  of  the  law" — 
that  fuch  old-fangled  opinions  were 
not  applicable  to  the  prefent  times; 
and  advifcd  to  conceal  them  within 
your  own  bofomt  leaft  you  might  ex- 
pofe  yourfelf  to  the  vengeance  of  the 
Dew  and  merciiefs  defpotifm.  For 
my  own  part  fir,  I  never  could  a- 
dopt  this  doctrine.  1  have  fr  m  my 
infancy  adored  the  principles  upon 
•which  the  American  Conititution  is 
founded,  and  under  that  Conftitutiou 


I  doubt   the  poffibility  of  a  cafe  i$ 
which  any  officer  of  the  government 
however    high    his   ftation,  however 
pure  his  character,  can  be  juttificd  in 
a  departure  from  the  written  laws  of 
his  country  ;  much  lels  from   a  fla- 
grant,  and    what   appears  to  me,  a 
wanton  and  unnecelfary  violation  of 
them.     If  you  once   admit    fuch  a 
principle  as  this,  you  lay  the  founda- 
tion  for   defpotifm  ;     and    may    bid 
adieu  to  liberty  aid  the  reign  of  law 
-—you    put    it  in  the  power   of  any 
ambitious   man,   of  any    idol  of  the 
people,     of  any     powerful   military 
chief,  to  fupoofe  fuch  a  cafe,   to  ima- 
gine public  danger,  make  it  a  pretext 
to  trample  your   laws   under   foot — • 
feize  upon  your   government,  admi- 
minifter  it  a  while  according  to   his 
own  fancy,  and  finally  ere6l  upon   its 
ruins  juft  fuch  a  fyftem  as  Cstfar  did 
in  Rome  ;   as  Bonaparte  has  done   in 
France.     In  this  way  all  the  govern- 
ments in  the  world   have  been  over- 
turned ;    and     in  this    way,   it  you 
countenance  fuoh doctrines,  the  liber- 
ties of  America  will  be  loft.        What 
does  it  matter  to  me,  Mr.  Chairman, 
if  this  be  rfft-cted  by   Aaron  Burr  or 
James  Wil kin fon.     For  the  fake  of 
argument,  however,  I  will  admit  the 
petition — /  will  /upptfe  that  a   caie 
may  happen  where   "  the  tardy  pro- 
cefs of  the  law,"  may    be  "antici- 
pated"— when  a  governor  may  aban- 
don, and  a  general  of  your  army  may 
and  ought  to  ufurp  all  power  !    Was 
that  our  cafe  ?     To  what  real  danger 
has  our  country  been  expofed  ?    Look 
at   Mr.   Burr   in    Kentucky — follow 
him  down  to  Natchez  !    How  many 
men  had  he  ever  cofle&ed  together  ? 
What  quantity  of  arms  or  other  mil- 
itary (tores  do  you    find   him  or  his 
afTociates,  in  poffeflion  of  ?    You  have 
heard  of  13  boats   being  feized  near 
Marictta>  loaded  with  provifions  awt 


C  *7  3 


prefumed  to  belong  to  Burr's  party. 
Admit  the  fadl.  But  how  many 
men  were  on  board  thefe  boats  ?  and 
\vhat  arms  had  they  ?  No  arms  at 
all,  and  not  more  men  than  were  ne- 
cellary  to  row  thefe  boats  to  Natchez 
— On  the  22d  of  December  he  leaves 
Nafhviile  with  2  boars  ;  at  the  mouth 
oi  Cumberland  he  i*  joined  by  11 
more  ;  and  with  this  formidable  force 
he  at  rives  about  the  loth  of  January 
at  Bayou  Pierre — 13  boats  thenload- 
ed  with  provifions,  having  on  board 
from  50  10  100  men,  and  about  40 
{land  or  arms,  which  appear  to  have 
bfen  brought  alorg  with  them  for 
the  pu  p>»fe  of  killing  turkies  &  wild 
geefe  for  this  mighty  army— to  op- 
pofe  vvh^ch  you  are  called  upon,  (and 
many  of  you  have  already  pledged 
yourfelve^-J  tojtiflify  General  Wilk- 
infon  and  Governor  Claiborne  in  the 
fecret  as  well  as  open  violation  of  e- 
very  thing  that  is  dear  to  the  liberties 
of  man.  Many  of  you  have  alrea  ly 
hailed  the  General  as  the  faviour  of 
his  country,  have  bound  yourfelves 
down  to  approve  his  conduct,  and 
call  upon  us  in  the  face  of  off  ndui 
Heaven  and  the  proftituted  rights  of 
yourcounrry,  to  go  along  with  you 
by  rejecting  the  memorial.  Permit 
me  to  a(k  fir,  (allowing  every  thing 
that  has  been  faid  about  the  nature 
and  extent  of  Burr's  plans  to  be  true) 
who  is  entitled  to  that  facred  epi- 
thet ?  Who  has  really  been  the  Sa- 
viour of  our  country  ?  Whohasde- 
feated  the  fchemes  of  Burr  ?  Have 
the  opera/tons  of  general  Wilkinfw  and 
governor  Chi  borne  extended  beyond  the 
limits  of  this  territory  ?  Have  the 
dreadful  fffefts  of  the  wounds  which 
have  been  inftifted  upon  your  Conftitu- 
tion  penetrated  into  the  enemy  scamp  ? — 
was  Burrs  progrefs  arrefted?  Was 
the  feverance  of  the  Un'on,  or  the  inva- 
Mexico  prevented  by  concealing 


his  plans,  embargoing  \ntr  flapping? 
withdrawing  your  troops  from  the  upper 
count 'ry,  demanding  governor  Meade's 
militia,  infulting  your  courts  of  juft'ue, 
denouncing  your  fellow  citizens  as  trai-r 
tors,  arreftin*  ana  tranf porting  them, 
without  even  the  form  f  a  trial^  filling 
the  public  mind  ivith  eon/lant  alarms, 
deftroying  the  civil  a'ttbir.'ty.  or  fi '-tally 
by  trampling  under  foot  every  pi  inciple 
of  jvftice  and sf  right  ?  No  Sir  !  YM 
owe.  yourfalv.ition  »->/  fa  general  ffiilkin- 
fon  or  governor  Clai  borne,  but  to  the  Pa- 
triot if  m  and  integrity  of  the  people  //'  Ken  • 
tucky  ;  and  tithein  fhmld  your  altars  fe 
erefted.  You  oivt  if  to  that  love  of  *  li- 
berty a)d 'independence  ;  to  that  attach- 
ment 10  their  country  ;  to  that  confidence 
in  the  horejl  adm'iniftration  of  the  the  gen- 
eral government*  wh<ch  glows  in  the 
minds  ofourwrftern  brethren.  You  owe 
it  tv  their  love  of  thofe  facred  principles 
which  you  have  not  only  fecn  torn  front 
you  without  a  murmur ;  hut  tor  the  hfs 
of  which  you  have  kijfid  in  humilia- 
tion the  ravi [her* s  feet,  and  wtfb  to  place 
upon  his  head  a  crown  sf  immortal  ho- 
nors. If  Burr  had  had  to  contend  with 
fuch  Jentiments  in  Kentucky  ;  //  he  could 
there  have  ufurped  with  impunity  the 
powers  which  your  fuperiors  have  done 
here,  what  would  then  have  been  your 
rttuation  ?  Who  in  thai  cafe  would 
have  been  yaur  Savior?  If  Gen.  ffiilk— 
infon  had  been  upon  the  Sabine  ;  if  him 
and  his  whole  army,  however  brave  and 
loyal  they  mny  be,  had  been  in  tbe  re  mot  eft 
corner  of  the  globe.  Burr  never  could 
have  fucceedfd. — His  lawlefs  fchemes 
would  have  been  defeated  as  they  have  al- 
ready been. — But  had  he  evenfucceeded 
in  puffin*  Natchez  with  his  miferable 
force,  what  would  have  been  his  fat? 
here?  tfjkyour  boys  and  your  women 
in  the  Jlreets.  They  wiuld  have  been 
fufficient  to  have  given  a  good  account 
of  him.  But  Jir,  if  has  been  ajked, 
feme  triumph,  fuppfe  Gemral 


28     ') 


tin  Itiflead  of  oppnfwg  him,  had 
aflcd   as   Burr    expefted,    and  as  the 

general  Jays  he  had  a  right  to  exwrtj 
in  concert  with  him  ;  what  would'  h  we 
been  the  rejuit  ?  —  /  leave  this  quef- 
ti.n  to  be  anfwered  by  the  Generals 
advocates  thernjeive>  ;  and  /  yi  id  ei- 
ther to  him  or  to  them,  all  the  advan- 
tages they  can  draw  from  it. 

To  the  Editors  of  the   Orleans  Gazette. 


1  will  thank  you  to  in- 
sert the  following  in  your  next  num- 
ber, 

HAVING  on  a  late  occasion  in  the 
house  ol  representatives,  observed 
that  General  WiikLison  naci,  in  his 
communications  to  the  Merchants  of 
this  city,  and  aiso  the  superior  court, 
mentioned  the  name  of  Gen.  Dayton 
as  an  accomplice  of  Aaron  Burr  ;  I 
think  it  clue  to  candor  to  state  that  I 
\va&  under  a  mistake.  The  name  of 
General  Dayton  was  not  1  believe,  up- 
on i  c-lection,  publicly  mentioned  by 
General  Wilkinson,  as  concerned  with 
Burr.  But  at  the  same  time  1  render 
homage  to  truth,  in  correcting  with 
pleasure,  an  accidental  error,  —  I  re- 
serve to  myself  the  right  of  stating-  to 
the  public  the  circumstances  and  im- 
pressions under  which  that  error  was 
committed  —  This  shall  appear  in 
your  next  paper. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  very  respect- 
fully, 

Your  ob'dt.  humb.  servt. 

JOHN  W  ATKINS. 

New-Orleans,  April  5,  1807. 


To  the  Editors  of  the  Orleans  Gazette. 

IN  compliance  with  my  promise  I 
Bow  "relate"  to  you  the  circumstances 
•Whirl'  induced  n;e  to  state  that  Gen. 
riYil';inson  had  publicly  mentioned  the 
receipt  of  a  letter  from  Gen.  Dayton 


on  the  subject  oF  Burr's  conspiracy, 
At  the  time  Governor  Claiborne 
communicated  to  me  all  th.it  he  had 
learnt  from  General  Wilkinson,  he 
mentioned  among  other  tilings  that 
Gen.  Wilkinson  had  received  a  letter 
from  Gen.  Dayton,  in  which  was  these 
remarkable  words  u  Louisiana  &  M»x- 

ic~ 3urr  &    IVilkinuon."       When  a 

public  disclosure  of  this  plot  was  af- 
terwards made,  this  letter  of  General 
Dayton's  was  every  where  spoken  of, 
and  seemed  to  form  a  part  ol  it. — - 
Several  of  my  friends,  persons  of  the 
highest  respectability,  "''informed  me 
that  they  had  heard  of  the  same  let- 
ter, and  repeated  to  me  such  parts  of 
its  contents  as  to  convince  me  it  was 
the  same  letter  the  Governor  had  men* 
tionecl  to  me.  I  was  not  present  at 
the  assembly  of  the  merchants  ;  but  I 
had  understood  that  this  letter  was 
read  there  as  well  as  before  the  supe- 
rior court.  In  short,  General  Day- 
ton's letter  had  in  my  mind  become 
so  identified  with  Burr's,  that  they  al- 
ways presented  themselves  together. 
In  the  house  of  representatives, 
Gen.  Wilkinson  read  this  same  letter, 
and  it  was  translated  into  French  by 
the  clerk.  This  letter  was  pnrtly  in 
cypher,  and  partly  in  common  char- 
acter. It  began  by  predicting  to  the 
general  the  loss  of  the  government  of 
Louisiana,  and  hinted  in  very  strong 
terms  thtt  he  was  sinking  in  the  con- 
fidence' of  his  country— -that  Mr. 
Jefterson  might  affect  to  serve  him, 
but  that  he  would  finally  yield  to  pub- 
lic opinion,  and  after  talking  about 
troops,  concluded  with  <*  Louisiana  & 
'Mexico — 'Burr^f  Wilkinson"  I  will 
not  pretend  to  say  that  Gen.  Dayton 
is  the  author  of  this  letter  ;  but  I  po- 
sitively affirm  that  such  a  letter  exist- 
ed ; — and  pledge  myself  to  prove 
whenever  it  may  be  necessary,  that 
Wilkinson  gave  Dayton  as  the  author, 
if  not  publicly,  at  least  in  private  con^ 
versations. 

I  am  very  respectfully,  &c.  &c. 
JOHN  W  ATKINS. 


£/r.  Donaldson  observed,  that  he 
$houid  now  renew  his  motion  of  yes- 
terday, that  the  memorial  be  recom- 
mitted to  a  committee  appointed  tor 
that  purpose,  he  had  no  objection  to 
any  member  of  the  committee  who 
framed  the  memorial  which  was  then 
before  the  house,  t?ut  that  he  wished  a 
new  committee  to  be  appointed  that 
they  might  bring  forward  such  a  one 
as  the  house  could  act  upon  or  would 
meet  the  ideas  of  a  majority  of  the 
house. 

Doctor  Watktns  rose  to  explain  the 
impossibility  of  ever  bringing  forward 
such  a  memorial  as  would  accord  with 
the  ideas  of  all  the  members  of  this 
house.  How  in  the  name  of  God  can 
we  pretend  to  discuss  the  propriety  of 
forwarding  this  memorial  to  congress 
•when  the  very  grievances  that  we 
complain  of  in  the  memorial  have  been 
made  meritorious  acts,  and  an  address 
approbatory  of  the  measures  adopted 
by  gen.  Wilkinson  in  this  city  has 
been  signed  and  presented  to  him,  and 
the  names  of  some  of  the  members  of 
the  house  are  subscribed  to  it  and  that 
of  the  gentleman  who  now  renews  his 
motion  for  a  recommittment,  unless  I 
have  been  grossly  misinformed  ? 
What  sort  of  a  memorial  is  it  contem- 
plated that  we  should  send  forward  to 
congress  ?  one  setting  forth  that  it  is 
true  we  have  just  emerged  from  a 
state  of  slavery  and  entered  into  the 
wide  field  of  American  liberty,  but 
that  we  have  not  sufficiently  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  slavery  to  enjoy 
that  liberty  ?  Our  wounds  must  be  a- 
gain  scarified  before  they  can  heal. 

The  question  was  then  taken  on  the 
recommittment  of  the  memorial,  and 
lost. 

Mr,  Gurley  rose  and  moved  for  the 
rejection  of  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee. He  observed  that  he  had  flatter- 
ed himself  when  the  motion  was  made 
yesterday  to  recommit  this  report  that 
it  would  have  succeeded.  But  from 
the  observationswhich  have  fallen  from 


gentlemen  this  morning.,  he  was  per?, 
Cecily  convinced  of  the  object  of  the 
advocates  of  this  memorial,  and  tha;: 
not  the  slightest  ground  existed  to 
hope  for  any  coincidence  of  opinion 
oetween  them  and  those  who  wished  it 
substantially  changed,while  its  authors 
confess  it  replete  with  erroneous  and 
false  statements,  and  of  necessity  with 
unjust,  because  unfounded  criminati- 
ons. We  are  still  teazed  to  go  into  an 
immediate  consideration  of  it,  and  to 
adopt  it  with  the  few  alterations  which 
they  themselves  propose,  and  which 
only  prove  to  my  mind  that  no  sub- 
stantial alterations  of  any  nature  are 
intended  by  them  or  can  be  expected 
by  us.  Indeed  the  idea  of  amending 
this  report  in  a  committee  of  the 
whole  house  is  ridiculous,  we  might 
as  well  resolve  ourselves  into  a  com- 
mittee of  the  whole,  to  write  the  histo- 
ry of  Louisiana.  In  making  the  mo- 
tion which  he  had  done  to  reject  the 
memorial.,  he  did  not  deem  it  necessa- 
ry to  go  into  a  consideration  of  its  con- 
tents, he  was  ready,  however,  to  do  it 
when  necessary.  But  in  the  mean 
time  believing  it  to  be  evident  to  e very- 
member  of  the  house,  that  essential 
alterations  in  it  were  necessary,  he 
conceived  that  the  house  had  virtually 
decided  in  favor  of  his  motion  by  re- 
fbsing  to  adopt  the  only  measure  by 
which  those  alterations  could  possibly 
be  made. 

Mr.  Collins  rose  to  second  the  mo- 
tion of  the  gentleman  from  Orleans: 
that  the  memorial  contained  state- 
ments not  true,  and  ought  not  to  come 
before  this  house,  and  that  his  vote 
would  be  to  reject  it 

Mr.  Hughes  wished  the  gentleman 
who  spoke  last  would  inform  him  be- 
fore what  house  or  place  this  memo- 
rial ought  to  come,  as  he  had  declar- 
ed it  ought  not  to  come  before  this. 
One  thing  the  gentleman  has  not  ne- 
glected to  inform  us,  which  is  that  he 
will  vote  against  it,  but  what  of  that,. I 
will  tell  him  that  I  will  vote  for  it  and 


so   ) 


that  it  shall  have  my  most  hearty  ap- 
probation. The  facts  can  be  proven. 

Mr.  Gurley  rose  to  explain  that  it 
was  on  the  ground  that  the  majority 
of  the  house  was  against  a  recommit- 
ment of  the  memorial  that  he  moved 
for  its  rejection  in  toto. 

Doctor  Wat  kins  observed  he  wished 
to  debate  on  this  subject  as  is  common 
on  all  debates  before  this  house  :  he  be- 
lieved that  our  government  had  been 
threatened  to  its  foundations,  but  that 
the  nefarious  plot  was  defeated  long- 
before  it  ever  reached  this  city — that 
the  authors  of  its  defeat  are  not  here, 
not  to  be  found  among  the  tramfiltrs 
•upon  our  lawt> — he  rose  to  oppose  this 
motion  and  wouki  move  to  take  up  the 
memorial  article  by  article  arid 
«onsiuer  it. 

Air.  Parrot,  said  he  was  just  about 
rising  when  the  gentleman  who  spoke 
last  did  lo  tne  same  ei-Vxt :  he  observed 
that  the  mode  pointed  out  of  discuss- 
ing the  memorial  article  by  article, 
•was  certainly  the  proper  and  usual  one 
•• — but  it  appeared  to  him  to  be  the  de- 
termination to  strangle  this  me:;  o  ial 
in  its  birJi,  to  bring  it  to  a  premature 
fate,  but  he  would  ask  the  gentleman 
if  his  bow-strings  were  ready,  &  if  he 
had  his  mutes  at  hand.  This  suia  he 
Is  a  Turkish  mode  of  execution,  which 
I  must  confess  J  do  pot  like — however 
we  shall  have  one  consolation  that  at 
least  it  will  meet  with  an  honorable 
death,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  its  execu- 
tioner. 

Mr.  Donaldson  observed  that  it 
had  been  said  that  no  danger  ever  ex- 
isted to  warrant  the  measures  that  had 
been  adopted  in  this  city,  and  that  it 
was  never  sufficiently  nigh  ;  it  is  true 
said  he  it  was  never  at  our  gates,  but  is 
it  the  mode  of  a  good  general  to  wait 
until  danger  is  so  njgh  ?  No,  the  best 
v/;u-  is  to  he  guarded  against  it  and  we 
$huutd  never  despise  danger,  and  too 
numy  states  and  citizens  have  fallen 
from  the  very  circumstance  of  despis- 
Mg  danger  ;  bz  declared  that  he  be- 


lieved our  present  safety  was  owing 
to  the  prompt  measures  which  had 
been  adopted  in  this  city.  The  gen- 
tleman from  Opelousas  tells  us  of  a 
Turkish  mode  ;  I  have  heard  of  cram- 
ing  Turkeys,  and  the  gentleman  wish- 
es to  cram  this  memorial  down  our 
throats. 

Mr.  Gurley  observed  that  in  moving 
as  he  had  done  for  the  rejection  of  the 
memorial,  he  thought  thrt  be  had 
been  so  explicit  in  the  declaration  of 
the  motives  by  which  he  was  governed, 
as  to  have  left  no  room  for  charges 
which  have  been  heard  in  your  com- 
mittee, of  want  of  liberality  Sc  candor. 
Gentleman  affect  to  believe  that  the 
exercise  of  those  virtues' in  thdr  favor 
can  have  no  limitations.  With  what 
propriety  (continued  Mr.  G.)  can  gen- 
tlemen call  on  us  for  the  exercise  of 
generosity,  after  having  refused  the 
proffer  of  accommodation  which  was 
hoklen  out  yesterday,  by  the  motion, 
which  I  had  the  honor  to  support,  for 
a  recommitment  of  this  memorial  to 
the  same  committee  which  had  repor- 
ted it.  This  motion  I  thought  so  rea- 
sonable that  it  was  with  astonishment 
I  had  found  it  negatived.  When  mem- 
bers of  that  committee  had  concede^ 
that  they  had  made  a  report  to  this 
house  which  was  incorrect  in  point  of 
act,  and  which  required  gre.it  and  ma- 
terial alterations  to  meet  even  th"ir 
ideas  of  propriety,  we  are  still  compel- 
led to  act  upon  it,  and  to  take  the 
chance  of  such  partial  alterations  as 
may  be  made  in  a  committee  of  the 
whole  house.  But  after  what  I  have 
witnessed,  I  feel  perfectly  satisfied 
that  as  no  material  alterations  can  be 
hoped  for  even  on  a  recommitment, 
the  sooner  the  better  we  tiisburthen 
ourselves  of  all  consideration  of  the 
subject.  Not  that  I  am  disposed,  mr. 
Chairman,  as  has  been  stated,  to 
strangle  this  measure  in  its  birth  ; 
much  less  shall  I  ever  be  induced  to 
give  a  vote  in  this  house  for  which  I 
fear  to  assign  the  reasons  which  go- 


ve rn  me .  With  regard  to  the  first  im- 
putadon,  my  conduct  has  been  a  com- 
plete refutation  of  it.  I  have  been 
willing  to  cio  every  thing  which  could 
have  brought  before  this  house  such  a 
representation  to  the  national  govern- 
ment as  I  thought  worthy  of  this  legis- 
lature. I  mean  by  this  a  fair  repre- 
sentation of  facts,  and  a  temperate  ex- 
pression of  opinions  resulting  from 
those  facts.  buch  a  representation  I 
shall  forever  contend,  is  the  only  one 
calculated  to  have  any  effect,  or  to  an- 
swer any  one  object  which  I  have  a 
right  to  presume  that  this  legislature 
has  in  view. 

in  examining  the  memorial  which  I 
have  done  witn  attention  only  the  pre- 
ceding night,  I  am  confirmed  in  the 
impression  which  I  had  formed  on 
hearing  it  read  in  the  house,  that  it 
contained  the  most  exaggerated  and 
unfounded  statements  and  such  as  I 
trust  will  never  be  given  to  the  world 
under  the  solemnity  of  legislative  sane 
tion. 

I  shall  as  briefly  as  possible,  mr. 
Chairman,  examine  some  of  those 
statements  in  order  to  justify  the  opin- 
ions which  I  have  expressed  and  the 
vote  which  I  shall  give.  In  doing  this 
gentlemen  who  have  advocated  this 
memorial  will  excuse  me  if  I  do  not 
choose  to  follow  them  in  the  circuit 
which  they  have  taken,  and  for  which 
every  man  must  perceive  the  object  to 
be  wholly  foreign  to  any  possible 
question  which  can  arise  from  the  sub- 
ject under  our  consideration.  Indeed 
from  what  we  have  heard  in  support 
of  this  memorial,  more  than  from  the 
memorial  itself,  we  are  led  to  the  real 
motives  in  which  it  originated.  From 
what  we  have  heard  one  would  sup- 
pose that  this  house  had  abandoned  its 
legislative  functions,  that  it  had  erec- 
ted itself  into  a  judicial  tribunal  to  de- 
cide not  on  the  recent  events  of  which 
this  memorial  professes  to  treat,  but 
on  the  character  and  conduct  through 
life  of  the  individuals  implicated  in  it. 
Mr.  Chairman,  I  stand  not  here  the 
Advocate  of  any  individual ;  but  I  will 


never  cease  to  reprobate  an  attempt 
like  to  prostitute  the  dignity  of  the 
legislature  by  making  it  subservient 
to  a  party  and  by  engaging  it  to  be* 
come  a  mad  partizan  in  the  quarrels, 
and  contests  of  individuals. 

It  is  therefore  that  I  shall  leave  the 
conjectures,  suspicions  and  denuncia- 
tions against  the  commander  of  the 
army  of  the  United  States  and  which 
have  been  made  to  embrace  the  history 
of  his  whole  life,  not  because  they  are 
unsusceptible  of  refutation,  for  many 
of  them  refute  themselves,  but  because 
they  are  entirely  foreign  to  the  sub- 
ject at  present  before  the  house.—— 
That  subject  so  far  as  I  know  any 
thing  of  it,  extends  only  to  a  consider- 
ation of  the  question,  whether  this 
memorial  contains  a  fair  representa- 
tion of  the  public  measures  which  we 
have  witnessed  in  this  territory  for 
the  last  three  or  four  months.  In  re- 
ference to  this  single  subject,  I  shall 
call  the  attention  of  the  house  to  some 
parts  of  this  memorial.  The  first 
part  of  it  consists  of  a  declaration  of 
the  rights  conferred  on  the  people  of 
this  territory  by  the  different  acts  of 
congress  establishing  our  government. 
So  far  I  must  confess,  although  I 
fear  but  very  little  farther,  the  au- 
thors of  this  memorial  seem  to  have 
proceeded  with  some  regard  to  truth. 
We  then  have  an  account  of  the  arri- 
val of  our  troops  from  the  Sabine  in 
this  city,  and  the  measures  which  were 
shortly  after  adopted  for  its  defence. 
And  here  commences  the  'irst  charge, 
against  the  comman-ler  in  chief  of  his 
having  excited  unnecessary  alarm  by 
holding  out  the  i  lea  that  martial  law- 
was  to  be  proclaimed.  From  what 
quarter  the  authors  of  this  memorial 
obtained  their  information,  I  know  not 
—But  this  I  know,  that  this  is  the  first 
moment  that  I  ever  heard  that  any 
idea  of  this  sort  was  ever  siifrg-estecl  in. 
the  country  by  any  one,  much  less  w»s 
I  ever  informed  of  any  attempt  to  ex- 
cite unfounded  akirm  among  the  peo* 
pie, 


That  the  citizens   of  this  territory 
•were  alarmed  ;  that  every    man    who 
Jovcci  his  country,  felt  during  a  period 
of  danger  some  doubt  and  uncertainty, 
an  extreme  degree  of  solicitude,  can- 
not  be  denied.       A    conspiracy   the 
most  attrocious   &  desperate  that  ever 
disgraced  human  nature  was  develop- 
ed to  us.      We  saw  it  directed  aguinst 
the  union  of  our  country  and  that  con- 
stitution of  government  to  which  we 
had  been  accustomed    to  look  for  the 
protection  of  every  thine  dear  and  val- 
uable.    At  the  head  of  this  desperate 
project  we  saw   a  man    of  talents  un- 
questionable, and  who  once  possessed 
the   confidence  of  his   country.     The 
knowledge   we    had   was   sufficient  to 
induce  the  apprehension  of  great  dan- 
ger ;  and  our  ignorance  of  particulars 
not   only    strengthened  these    appre- 
hensions, but  was  a  new  source  of  real 
danger  in  itself.      Such  was  our  situa- 
tion, and  such  were  our  feelings,  when 
this  systematized  scheme  of  rebellion, 
rapine  and  murder,  was  first  unfolded 
to  us.     It  was    at  this  time    that  the 
merchants  of  this  city  with  a  patrio- 
tism which  will  do  them   eternal    ho- 
nor, came  forward  and  offered  the  de- 
lay of  their  vessels  in  your  port,  in  or- 
der to  enable  the   government  to  pro- 
cure seamen  to  man  the  public  ships 
destined  to  ascend  the    river.     Little 
did  they  then  think  that  the  acceptance 
of  this  voluntary  and    patriotic  offer, 
would   in   the  course    of  three  short 
months,   be   denounced    as    a  crime 
which  called  for  the  most  signal  pun- 
ishment.     For  such,    mr.  Chairman, 
is  the  simple  history  of  what  is  deno- 
minated in  this  memorial  an  embargo, 
and  which  is  said  to  have  been  estab- 
lished by  an   unpardonable  usurpation 
of  power  and  violation    of  our  rights  ; 
and  to  which,  continued  as  it  did  only 
six  or  seven  days,  have  been  ascribed 
effects  which  if  they    had   any  exist- 
ence,  would    piove    that   the  country 
had  been  utterly  ruined.     The  fact  is 
t]iat  nothing  like  an  embargo  has  ever 


existed,  and  I  defv  any  man  to  pr6v£ 
that  a  single  vessel  has  been  prevented 
from  going  to  sea  by  any  of  the  mea- 
sures to  which  we  refer.  It  is  thus 
that  this  affair  termed  an  embargo  has 
been  brought  forward  to  swell  the  long- 
catalogue  of  exaggerations  Mid  false 
hoods  with  which  this  memorial  a- 
bounds. 

Mr.  G.  here  read  that  part  of  the 
memorial  relating  to  the  embargo,  Sc 
concluded  by  demanding  of  every 
member  of  the  house  whether  there 
was  even  the  shadow  of  truth  in  a  sin- 
gle statement  on  that  subject. 

We  next  come  to   a  most  able  and 
learned  criticism  on  the  military  move- 
ments of  the  commander   in    chief.—, 
which    in  a  most    decisive  style    you 
have  heard  declare-,  have  been  calcu- 
lated not  for  the  defence  of  the  coun- 
try, but  for  its  surrender  to  the   man 
with  whom  he  is   represented    by  the 
advocates  of  this  memorial  as  a  confe- 
derate in  treason.     Mr.    Chairman,   I 
cannot  but  feel  for  the    honor   of  this 
house  when  I  consider  the   insidious 
attempt  which  is  now  made  to  induce 
us  to  pronounce  a  solemn  mock  judg- 
ment in  the  face  of   the    world,  on  a 
subject  of  which  it  is  not  in  the  nature 
.  of  things  possible  that  we  should  be  a- 
ble  to  form   a  correct   opinion.     For 
sir,  we  must  not  forget  that  with    re- 
gard to  these  military    arrangements, 
the   question  is    not    singly   whether 
they  have   been    good   or  bad  ;  much 
less  whether  they  have  been  the  best 
that  possibly  could  have  been  devised  ; 
but  whether  they  prove  that  this   ter- 
ritory was  actually  abandoned   by   the 
commander  in  chief  to  the  inroads   of 
the    expected   invader,    and    whether 
the  measures   adopted  by    him  were 
calculated,    as    we    are    called    upon 
gravely  to  assert  upon  our  honor  and 
our  oaths   to   the    government  of  the 
nation,  to  deliver   over  our   citizens, 
their  fortunes  and  their  lives  into  the 
hands  of  ;*  desperate  band  of  traitors 
and  assassins. 


